Something New
by Slays
Summary: REDO of my A Different Life, which I just stopped and decided I need to start over. After the Master kills Buffy, Kendra comes to SunnyD and Buffy gets sent to Hogwarts. rating subject to change.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing unfortunately (blah on life). It is all Joss's and Rowling's, I'm just messing around and putting my own spin on things. And the beginning and part of Buffy's dream is from "Prophecy Girl," as is the recap. Don't sue me I own nothing.

Redo of my discontinued original (A Different Life) because I just need to start over to get back in the swing of things! Same story line though, although I might decide to take it in a different direction. I really want to do this story. Sorry it's been like a year or something, but things happen. Don't give up on me!

This was/is my first fan fiction I've ever written and I have never written any stories ever actually but I love reading other fanfic so I wanna contribute! Critiques are welcome, as is anyone interested in beta-ing. No flaming though please, it is not constructive and it's pissy.

Timeline is after 1st season of Buffy and after 5th book HP world. Remember how Buffy is all bitchy after she dies? Well, Giles is concerned about her and her behavior and sends her to Hogwarts. I know Buffy at Hogwarts is really old, but I still like it, and it has been done well before and I have never seen her go after season 1! Oh, and Buffy and Angel aren't exactly serious-serious or anything at this point, so it will not be a BA shipper. I don't know what pairs I will be doing yet.

**Recap**

_Buffy: So that's it, huh? I remember the drill. One Slayer dies, next one's called! Wonder who she is. (to Giles) Will you train her? Or will they send someone else?_

_Giles: Buffy, I..._

_Buffy: They say how he's gonna kill me? Do you think it'll hurt?_

_Tears are flowing freely from her eyes. Angel tries to hug her, but she puts up her hands and quickly steps away._

_Buffy: Don't touch me! (to Giles) Were you even gonna tell me?_

_Giles: I was hoping that I wouldn't have to. That there was... some way around it. I..._

_Buffy: I've got a way around it. I quit!_

_Angel: It's not that simple._

_Buffy: I'm making it that simple! I quit! I resign, I-I'm fired, you can find someone else to stop the Master from taking over!_

_Giles: I'm not sure that anyone else can. All the... the signs indicate..._

_Buffy: The signs? (throws a book at him) READ ME THE SIGNS! (throws another one) TELL ME MY FORTUNE! YOU'RE SO USEFUL SITTING HERE WITH ALL YOUR BOOKS! YOU'RE REALLY A LOTTA HELP!_

_Giles: No, I don't suppose I am._

_Angel: I know this is hard._

_Buffy: What do you know about this? You're never gonna die!_

_Angel: You think I want anything to happen to you? Do you think I could stand it? We just gotta figure out a way..._

_Buffy: I already did. I quit, remember? Pay attention!_

_Giles: Buffy, if the Master rises..._

_Buffy: (yanks the cross from her neck) I don't care! (calms down) I don't care. Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die._

_Later_, _after the Master dies..._

_Buffy: We saved the world. I say we party! (looks down at her dress) I mean, I got all pretty._

_Ms. Calendar: And what about him? (indicates the Master)_

_Buffy: (looks at the Master) He's not going anywhere. Loser._

**Prologue: An Idea**

Buffy woke up with a strangled gasp. She slowly crawled out of bed, trying to shake off yet another nightmare. Ever since the Master had killed her, she'd been living the night over and over in her dreams.

_Buffy is in the Master's lair, frozen in fear as he has her by the neck and explains to her how she will die for nothing and his escape will be her fault. Her blood will free him. "But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell you everything." The Master leans toward her and whispers, "You're the one that sets me free! If you hadn't come, I couldn't go. Think about that!" And she does as he bites her..._

Buffy shivered. 'Get over it Buffy. You're alive. The Master is dead.' Still, she couldn't shake her fear, and she didn't exactly scare easily normally, she thought with a tinge of pride. She died though. It's not something you just get over.

"Honey, you'd better be awake! You don't wanna be late for school," Joyce shouted from downstairs.

"Coming mom!" Buffy shouted back. Ugh, she thought, forcing normal girl thoughts in her head as she focused on getting dressed, fixing her hair, and looking pretty- ready to go to school and face her friends and her watcher. She thought that maybe she would be happy to see them again. But really she was happier in LA. _Where I can forget, no Hellmouth, no dying._ Just shopping, sun, her Dad, and kicking the crap out of lame-ass city vamps she thought, a brief smile flitting across her face before disappearing. Seeing her friends last night felt so forced. Something was wrong with her maybe she thought. I mean, they were her friends and she loved them. They accepted her for her _or who they thought she was_. Still, she huffed mentally, why should she be happy to see them? She died saving the world and they act as if nothing happened. But it wasn;t liek the last apocalypse though. No nightmares or scares on that one. The Harvest. She snorted. How lame. Now, every night the nightmares come. She couldn't even go swimming in LA as she'd have flashbacks of her drowning, being face down in the shallow pool, the energy and blood draining out of her neck and not being able to breathe but being helpless to move. Dying. And she will die again for this world that doesn't care, no matter how hard she fought. Slayers die young. Buffy's mood darkened. She looked up from her dresser where she had been idley toying with her lipgloss. The girl that looked back at her in the mirror was not the flakey blonde she had been a second ago. This was an angry girl, and a Slayer at that.

At the Library the next day

Giles sighed and closed his book. He could not focus on reading. His Slayer had been acting unusual ever since she'd been back. She'd been, well, mean. He knew she was having a hard time facing things ever since her death. She had so much to deal with. Before, Buffy always seemed nonchalant about her calling half the time, relying on her natural aptitude and breezing through it with a grin, a pun, and a little bit of whining. He smiled ruefully. She couldn't kid herself any longer, that was part of the problem. Earlier, the Counsel called. They were sending the new slayer, a girl named Kendra, to the Hellmouth. Giles had been ready to protest but realized this might be the break Buffy needed. She could get away from the Hellmouth. Sunnydale would have Kendra and Buffy would have... what? Where could he send a jaded young Slayer, because for all her attempts at levity she was that- jaded and lost. An idea came to him. Yes, that would do. He picked up the phone.

What do ya think, to those of you who haven't read? And to those who have, a little better? Review! Is it worth starting over and continuing, or should I not bother?


	2. Chapter 1: Escape

AN: Again, I do NOT own anything. Really, I have nothing.

Timeline for Buffy is obviously after season 1, beginning season 2. As for HP, I'm going to make it after 5th year, as I don't want a certain character to be dead yet and because when I originally started this story HBP wasn't out yet. I will probably incorporate it though. Unfortunately, I do not have my Harry Potter books with me, so if I get details wrong, just go with it. Point it out to me if you want. Harry and the gang will be just turning 17, instead of 16, which is what I think Harry turns in the the 6th book to help the ages go along. AKA they are the same age as Buffy and the gang. Please review, it makes me happy. And I am open to ideas from reviews too.

**Chapter 1: Escape**

"Buffy!" Giles looked up startled as the blonde teen entered the library.

"Hey," she said. "So what's the what? Any new baddies in town for me to kill? It's kinda been dead lately. Not dead dead. Dead as in no undead hanging around..." she trailed off and briefly frowned at her words. "This means something big is happening doesn't it?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

The doors of the library swung open again as Xander and Willow walked in.

"G man! Buffster!" Xander greeted with enthusiasm while Willow plopped herself on a chair and gave a hesitant hi to Buffy. Her friend had not been herself lately. She'd been out Cordelia-ing Cordelia.

"Please do not call me that, Xander. Ever," Giles said before turning his attention to his charge. "Now Buffy, I have no reason to believe anything... big is happening any time soon. The only concern I have is over your recent behavior," Giles told her.

"What? What do you mean? You should be happy! I have been dutifully kicking bad guy ass wherever I can find it!" It was true. She had been venting her frustrations with everything slay related, and life related for that matter on the local vamp and demon population. They were probably just avoiding her or something. She really had been devastatingly deadly lately. She'd avoid her too if she were an evil undead. And hey, she just used alliteration! Devastatingly deadly! And Willow didn't even give her kudos. Totally side tracking now. "I've been super slay gal!"

"Um Buffy," Willow interjected. "Giles is right. You're not acting yourself." Seeing the glare the angry slayer was now giving her and not wanting to upset her friend any further, she continued. "I know this has been hard for you, but you can't face this yourself. Let us help you."

Buffy interrupted with a laugh. It sounded girly and harsh at the same time. Then she immediately turned serious. "No Willow. That's the thing. I'm dealing. I'm fine." She paused. "And anyways, you don't know what it's like. You don't know what it is like to be killed, to die. Alone. You don't know what it is like to fight every night for your life, never knowing when it will be your last." Her voice kept rising as she talked. "You don't know what it's like to be told you have to die to save the world, and nobody will ever even know what you sacrifice. You don't know what its like not to have a future, to have your mom look at you the way my mom does with such disappointment. Or what it's like to have people look at you like you're some kind of delinquent, or freak or, or insane," she said closing her eyes remembering what it was like to be locked up that brief time in the mental institution. Something she had never told them and never will. It had been awful, to be so desperate and afraid and to have no one believe you and lock you up instead. God, one more craptacular chapter in Buffy's life. She looked up, her eyes like steal. "And I can face it myself. I always have and always will. In the end, a slayer is always alone. Chosen _one_. She alone. It's always me. Take away everything else and what's left? I am. Just me." Buffy abruptly ended her rant, glared and took a breath, and stalked out of the library.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. "Gee that went well," Xander commented. Willow just stared. She felt horrible for her friend. Giles rubbed his glasses. He had wanted to talk to her about the new slayer coming and her possible leaving but it seems it will just have to wait. If she could even go, that is. He was sure however that it would be fairly easy to convince Joyce to let her leave. He was planning on telling her it was a special study abroad program and that it would greatly benefit her. It was convincing Buffy that would be difficult. In her present state, he had no idea how she'd react.

Meanwhile, Buffy ran into her math class, barely making it on time and earning a none-too-nice look from her teacher. She sat down and promptly proceeded to space out. What was the point? It's not like you need math to kill vampires. And she'll most likely never make it out of high school, much less Sunnydale ever anyways. At least not alive. She raised her hand.

"Miss Summers?" her teacher asked, surprised at her participation.

"Yeah I feel sick I need a pass," Buffy answered not even bothering to put on a fake sick act. Her teacher didn't care either way anyways and wrote up the pass and Buffy left school. She spent the rest of the day wandering around town trying to sort through her thoughts. She paused when she came to where the Master's bones were buried. A chill rose up her spine.

"Loser," she said, repeating the words she had said that night. She definitely needed to patrol tonight. Strange as it was, ever since she had come back she felt stronger. She never could hide from her destiny, there was no denying it. She actually liked pummeling the vampires and demons. She was good at it. Nothing had ever come to her so naturally before. Her destiny seemed all she had going for her, even if it did lead to another early death. Buffy stopped her line of thinking. Brooding was Angel's job anyways. She was overreacting. She stopped the Master and was dead for like what, 5 minutes? Big deal, just another dead Big Bad. But it _was_ different to her. She didn't want to die again, no matter how tired of everything she was sometimes. Dying was scary and it hurt. And she was only 16. She sighed. It was hard trying to be a friend, a daughter, a student, and a Slayer. Not to mention whatever she had with Angel. She needed to get away, that's what she needed. It was tiring having to pretend to be someone she was not. Yes, she needed to escape.

Review!


	3. Chapter 2: Just a Girl

Okay, I'm not going to keep saying that I don't own anything so this is the last time and it carries through the rest of the story. I don't own Harry Potter or Buffy.

AN: Suggestions are welcome for any pairings. I heart reviews. And Buffy will get to Hogwarts in due time, just gotta establish the Sunnydale stuff and make the transition. Helps with believability.

Chapter 2: Just a Girl

Buffy was lounging on the couch in her living room. She was stretched out in her yummy sushi PJs with her hair in a messy pony tail and vegging out with a stack of movies she and her mom had been planning on watching. Buffy thought she owed it to her mother to spend some time with her. Her mom had never asked to have a slayer as a daughter, did she? What if Xander hadn't been there to revive her? It would have just killed her mom. And she loved her mom, she really did. If something happened to her because of Buffy..._no_. No thinking about that. She hated hiding things from her mom but she had to, for her mom's safety and hers. Last time she had tried to reach out she ended up in the loony bin. Not fun. Besides, she was secret identity girl here, not that she had done a great job at it in Sunnydale. Pushing the thoughts out of her head, Buffy looked up and smiled when her mom came in. This was their night.

"Hey, honey," Joyce said. "Okay now what movies do we have?" She leaned over and picked up a couple of the movies and started shuffling through them. "Pretty Woman, Grease, Groundhog Day..."she paused before continuing in an are-you-kidding-tone, "and Dracula, Buffy?" She looked up at Buffy and shook her head. "Really, I don't know how you can watch that kind of movie. I can't stand horror movies. And they are so gory and violent. Who really needs to see that? It sends a bad message. Why can't people talk things out?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and protested, "Talk things out with the big bad evil monster? Yeah, like that ever works. Besides, it is sooo not scary, mom. I think these type of movies are funny. Like, they are soooo unrealistic. What kind of vampire acts like that anyways? Capes and coffins? What self respecting vampire sleeps in a coffin? I mean sure, crypts are common and stuff but still. It's just lame. Which is why it's funny." She noticed her mom giving her a weird look. Buffy fidgeted and then forced a laugh. "Not that vampires are real. It's just that, if they were, which they aren't, they wouldn't turn into bats or anything. And garlic? Puh-lease, give me a break." She stopped herself before she could continue her babble. God, she was starting to sound like Willow.

"I say let's start with Grease," her mother decided, ignoring Buffy's babbling. Buffy's mom was good at ignoring her daughters oddities by now.

Buffy smiled. "Grease it is." She curled up next to her mother. It was nice, doing this. But it wasn't the same for her as it once was. Before she died, it had been easy to watch a fun movie with her mom and forget about being the Slayer. She could always do that later. She could lose herself in the movie and be normal Buffy again, feel safe next to her mother, and not worry about the monsters. It was harder now. She had come to terms that normal Buffy doesn't exist. Neither does safety.

"Is Willow coming tonight?" Joyce asked.

"Huh?" said Buffy, snapping out of it. "Oh yeah, she couldn't. Homework and all that. You know Willow," Buffy easily lied. She hadn't invited Willow. She didn't really want to see any other friends, not that she didn't love them. She just couldn't relate to them. And she was a danger to them. As long as they helped her, they could get hurt. They didn't have super powers and they kinda got in her way sometimes and endangered her when she had to risk herself to protect them. She knew they meant well. They thought they were helping. Or was it still just a game to them, where Buffy could always save the day at the end? Either way, she didn't want them to get hurt. She had to keep them safe, along with the rest of the world she mentally added to herself with a sigh. She was having conflicting feelings of anger at them, resentment at everything, and a whole lot of stuff she just didn't want to deal with right now. It was way easier to deal with her problems by beating her problems out on the local demons and vampires. Buffy shifted uncomfortably. Another reason why she didn't want Willow to spend movie night with them was she had wanted alone time with her mother. She had wanted to recapture that safe feeling. Even though she failed at that, she would be damned before that would ruin her mom time and a night off from patrol. She had too eagerly jumped into a fight with a group of vamps and had taken some harsh blows which hadn't healed yet, even with her fast healing. She internally winced at the pain as it flared up. Her face remained smooth as ever though as she pushed the lingering pain back down. She bottled her emotions and feelings up.

"I do know Willow. She's a good friend for you, Buffy, and a good influence," Joyce said. The movie was almost rewound. Joyce hated it when people didn't rewind the movies after renting them. It was rude. "You really should take a hint from her and study more. I'm concerned about you. You need to work harder on keeping your grades off if you want to get into a college. Your record isn't exactly stunning."

"Mom!" Buffy looked at her mother incredulously. "I can't believe you'd bring that up! I-"

"Sorry, sorry," Joyce interrupted. "You're right I shouldn't have brought it up. The movie's staring now. Forgive me?" Joyce smiled hopefully.

"Yeah sure, mom. Shhh it's playing," Buffy distractedly replied even though the comment hurt her.

Joyce felt guilty as she looked at her 16 year old girl. She looked so young and small. She was young, Joyce reminded herself. It was easy to forget that sometimes. One minute she'd be happy peppy Buffy but she could switch to a more serious Buffy in a heartbeat. It never used to be that way. She was always her sunshine girl, popular and outgoing. Now, her friend circle was more limited (although Willow and Xander were great for her, it's just she used to have so many more friends...) and Buffy could switch from outgoing to quiet and...introspective? She also seemed to shut Joyce out sometimes in a way she never did before. It bothered her. Buffy had changed in the past couple years. Even in the way she held herself. Not to mention the trouble she always was getting into now. _There was something..._She shook her head clear of her thoughts. She was being silly. Joyce fell back into sweet Sunnydale denial as she turned her attention to the movie and her little girl beside her.

Rupert Giles rubbed his glasses. He was sitting in his living with a now empty glass of scotch. He had been on the phone with the Watchers Council for the past hour. The Council wasn't very fond of Buffy. Buffy had her own unique ways of doing things and the Council liked tradition. The idea of two slayers was just not something they liked. It frustrated Giles. He had learned a lot since becoming a watcher to an actual slayer. Two slayers of course would be better than one not only for the world and the fight against evil, but it would ease the heavy burden placed on the shoulders of the young girls. Travers, one of the top men on the Council, was not pleased with the idea though that Giles had proposed. Damn that foolish man! Was he blind? He had discussed with them his idea of sending Buffy to Hogwarts. He himself didn't exactly love the thought of sending away not only a talented, experienced capable slayer from the Hellmouth (even if she kicked and screamed the whole way against her destiny, she nonetheless did her job and did it well), but a girl who he had grown to love as a daughter. He had put his own feelings aside though and figured it was best for her. It would help her heal and she could learn so much, maybe even enough to keep her alive longer than slayers tended to live. He hated the thought of his young charge dying again. _Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die._ But the Council was hesitant. They _did _want the newer, more disciplined girl guarding the now semi quiet- or at least as quiet as it could possibly get-hellmouth. And they did _not_ want Buffy's unconventional ways influencing the less experienced girl. So why the hesitation? They just did not want her to a place like Hogwarts. If Buffy was capable of learning magic, she could become uncontrollable and dangerous in their opinion. Giles scoffed. Well, of course slayers could be dangerous! They have to be dangerous. Also, the Council was possessive of their control over the Slayer Line. Slayers were known in the wizarding world to a degree. Some viewed them as myths and others knew their existence to be real. The views and the opinions were mixed as to whether the slayer was good. Regardless, the council was afraid if a slayer, particularly this one, involved herself in the affairs of the wizarding world, somehow trouble would ensue or they would lose control of her and the wizards would not only gain it, but help her tap deeper into her power making her a bigger threat should she chose to rebel. And Buffy Summers was just the type of girl who might rebel. The thought of his Buffy having access to her full slayer abilities scared them a bit. The thought of her knowing or understanding what they were scared them perhaps even more, as the Watchers even did not fuller understand the history of the slayers, or the extent of their powers. In the end, Giles had surprisingly won over, on the conditions that Buffy not reveal her identity. He smiled ruefully. The slayer wasn't supposed to reveal her identity anyways, but Buffy tended to slip up on that sometimes. Kendra would become the Council's Slayer and they would for now ignore "the Summers girl". Maybe she'd get herself killed again in this new unfamiliar world and things would be set right. Giles was mad when they had implied that but he snorted at the thought. Buffy was hard to kill and when she was killed she didn't stay dead. No, his girl was a fighter. he would miss her. His girl...

Review more? Please? And like I said, pairing suggestions are more than welcome. As are other suggestions or just observations. Feedback makes me happy and encourages more writing. And makes my day happy. 

Oh yeah, and authors note- yes I said movie, not DVD, and rewound...DVDs weren't the thing yet. But as I've messed with the time lines a little, I might get confused and bring up stuff like technology or pop culture wise that hadn't happened yet. I will try not to but if I do, well, oops.


	4. Chapter 3: Now Leaving Sunnydale

AN: Thanks to reviewers! Haven't been getting too many though, should I continue? I've tried making this chapter a bit longer (and added a scene that wasn't in this story the first time around), so enjoy!

Chapter 3: Now Leaving Sunnydale

"What do you think, Buffy?" Giles asked Buffy. He had just explained to her that she was not needed in Sunnydale anymore, that a new Slayer was being sent and the Council did not want her here. And that he wanted her at a magic school. Hogwarts, specifically.

"Wow. That's a lot to take in, Giles. And, and I can't just up and leave. What about real school? What about mom? And me, magic? At an actual magic school? Those exist? Why wasn't I told about this? Giles! And I doubt my mom would be too keen on the idea of a magical boarding school," Buffy said. Giles hadn't given her many details on Hogwarts other than that it was a magic school for wizards. Buffy was the Slayer, not a wizard.

"I will tell your mother that you were accepted into a private boarding school in England. I have a friend who taught there once. He put in a good word for you and that's how you were accepted. It shouldn't be too hard to convince her," Giles assured. He was, after all, a teacher himself.

"What about everything else, Giles? The magic? The I'm-not-a-wizard thing? Will Mom be safe? What about my Slaying? I can't give that up."

"Your mom will be perfectly safe, Buffy." Safer, Giles added to himself, than she was with Buffy here. As long as vampires and demons could follow her home, they would know she was not a conventionally raised slayer, that she had people she cared about and they could be used as targets. Like Joyce. He would have to give Buffy a story to make up while at Hogwarts, in case Buffy gets involved in their troubles. Which would be typical of her. It would not do if they went after her family. He continued to Buffy, "Well, I am told there is a forbidden forest around the school that contains dark creatures. You can patrol there if you feel the need." He paused and cleaned his glasses, to Buffy's faint amusement. "As a slayer, you should be a natural at magic actually. The power of a slayer is very strong though. You will need to work hard to tap into it and control it. Control is of the utmost importance, and will be," he paused and continued, "will be very difficult for you. It is one of the many reasons why slayers generally are held away from the wizard community. Which, by the way, you must keep your secret identity a _secret_," he peered over his glasses a gave her a pointed look, "as some wizards who know slayers exist fear her or think her evil." Giles was surprised at Buffy's questions. Buffy had always complained about her destiny, being the Slayer. She had always tried to avoid it before. Now, she seemed like she was not only accepting her destiny, but relying on it. She needed it and it worried Giles. She was behaving a little better around her friends now, but she still wasn't perfect and Giles hoped this would all pass. _Was it fair to ask her to be perfect though, on top of everything else the world asked of her?_ He cleaned his glasses one more time.

"I don't get it. _Vampire_ Slayer," Buffy said emphasizing the word vampire. "Vampires are evil. I kill them. Hence, no evil here. Where do they get evil from? I am _so_ not evil."

"A lot of the information they have on slayers comes from myth. Many wizards are simply misinformed," Giles said. Giles took a breath. Here's the part he didn't want to tell Buffy. "Right now, um, th-the wizarding world is in the mist of what one might call a war. As a muggle-"

"Muggle?" asked Buffy.

"A non-magical person. A normal person," Giles explained. He then continued, "As I was saying, as a muggle I am not aware of all the details. I do know the basics. There is an evil wizard whom they refer to as 'He who must not be named' because wizards fear him so much they dare not say his name. His name is Lord Voldemort."

"That's dumb. Huh. Must be a pretty big bad, huh?" Buffy again interrupted.

"Yes, quite. He was in power years ago and had followers called Death Eaters," Giles started. Buffy interrupted yet again though.

"Death eaters? Voldemort?" She laughed. "You've got to be kidding me! That is majorly lame."

Giles glared at his Slayer. "Voldemort's power came to an end one night when a curse he fired reflected off a baby and hit him. He was weakened, left without a body, and his reign ended. The caught Death Eaters either went to prison or convinced authorities they were under a curse and it wasn't their fault. Or bought their way out basically I am told," Giles took in Buffy's angry face at that comment. "Now he is back in power. Voldemort hates wizards who were not born into wizarding families. He only wants people with what he calls pure blood. He also dislikes muggles and certain creatures such as werewolves or half breeds. He kills people and tortures people. There is also talk that he might be converting demons to his side. This man, if you can even call him one, is extremely evil and dangerous. He is very powerful. If you go to Hogwarts in the midst of this war, you must be careful."

"Go figure. Right when I'm about to maybe start in this wizarding world whatever, a big evil bad guy comes along. This is so typical." Buffy pouted. Giles smiled. This was more like the Slayer he knew. But then she continued.

"I'll go. I need to get away and it sounds like this Doo-doo Mort guy or whatever they call him is in desperate need of slaying. Sounds like my kind of plan. I'm gotta go meet up with Willow and Xander in a bit. We're supposed to hang or whatever it is normal people do these days. When do I start packing?" Buffy asked.

"You would leave in three days. Are you sure this is what you want Buffy? I could arrange-"

"No. This can't be a coincidence." Buffy hadn't told Giles this, but she'd been dreaming again. Not just the normal nightmares either. She'd been having what by now she could easily recognize as Slayer Dreams. She could only remember flashes of them. She remembered a green light. She also remembered a castle, and Giles had told her earlier Hogwarts was a castle. And then she had the gut feeling, one she knew to trust. "I need to do this." Buffy sighed, all of a sudden looking very tired and older then her 16 years. "Besides, I get to learn magic. How cool is that?" she said weakly. "Maybe it'll give some extra oomph to my slay stuff. Who knows, then maybe I won't have to die again so soon," she said turning and walking off before Giles had a chance to reply.

"Hi," Buffy said walking up to Willow and Xander, who were waiting for her at the mall.

"Hey what took you so long?" Willow asked.

"Giles had to talk to me. Took longer then I thought it would," replied Buffy. She didn't want to explain to them yet that she was leaving. She hoped they wouldn't ask what Giles had been talking about...

"What'd Giles want?" asked Xander.

Crap. "The new Slayer is coming to Sunnydale," Buffy slowly said. She really didn't want to explain. As much as she wanted to go away, this was her home. It was hard, she had learned, moving to a new place not knowing anyone. At least at Hogwarts hopefully they wouldn't know about her burning down her gym or anything. She wanted to blend there. She sucked at blending though.

"A new slayer?" the red head asked curiously.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Xander spoke up. "What's this about another slayer? I thought there was only one. I knew this 'I'm the only one' was an attention grabber! You're just trying to make us think you're special. Not that you aren't. But ha! We're on to you!" Xander said.

Willow rolled her eyes. "There can't be another slayer Xander. Unless one dies..." Willow trailed off as realization dawned on her. "Oh. Oh! You. And, and then she! Oh, I get it now! Hey Buffy, now you don't have to be the only one this is fantastic, right?"

"I guess not," said Buffy. It wasn't true though. She was a slayer, she was always alone. But it did feel kinda good in a way knowing there was someone else out there who, while not having been through all she has, could at least on some level possibly relate. A sister in a way. She'd always wanted a sister. It would be nice if she could stay long enough to meet this new girl. She gave an inward sigh. Maybe it's for the better. As much as she complained, she wasn't sure if she'd enjoy having to share her slayerness with someone else. It made her special. Although one of two out a billions of people is still special. And she _was _the Senior Slayer.

"This is awesome, Buff!" Xander exclaimed. "Now you can hang out more and not worry about the evil undead. Make the new girl do it. You're Senior Slayer now."

Okay, Xander stole her dubbed title. Not cool, and weird. Had she spoken allowed? "As much fun as that sounds," Buffy said sarcastically, staring to revert into bitch mode again, "I think I'll go to England instead. Thanks anyways guys. It's been fun, really."

"Huh?" was all Xander said and was all he could think. Willow just looked startled. That one came out of left field.

"The new girl's taking over, my job here is done. There's no reason to stay." With that, Buffy walked off a second time today from someone (or _someones _in this case), her heals clicking behind her on the mall tiles.

"She can't do that Xander. Xander! Tell me she didn't say that." Willow was genuinely upset. Her other best friend was leaving to England of all places and apparently didn't give a crap about her.

"Come on Willow. Buffy in the land of many Gileses? How long do you really think she can last? She'll be back." Xander hoped so anyways. Who knows what this newer slayer would be like? Buffy was being selfish, he thought. It's all about Buffy. Although neither of them spoke their last thoughts out loud just then, Willow's thought echoed Xander's exactly.

Buffy was not going to be back, not that she planned, unless this slayer couldn't handle the hellmouth or something. She would push down her resentment and apologize to her friends the next day. They'd made Sunnydale bearable for her. She really would miss them but she wasn't being selfish, knowing they were both thinking that. Destiny was pulling at her again and this time it was pulling her into the wizarding world. She wouldn't resist it. Even if the Council changes their minds and tries to pull her out, she knew she had to do this, even if she didn't know what it was she was supposed to do. She silently wished that her friends, watcher, and mother would be taken care of. She knew they would be.

_Flashback._

"_Hey."_

"_Buffy." Angel looked at the young Slayer, surprised to see her, but happy to. He stepped towards her. She looked up at him. God, he was hot. _

"_I need you to do something."_

"_What?" Angel asked, aware of how close she was to him._

"_Protect them." At his puzzled look, she sighed and sat down on the graveyard bench. Angel sat next to her. He noticed she was wearing his cross._

"_I'm going away. I have to- I have to leave. I've been having dreams. Giles told me about this magic school, and I'm going to go. I'm needed there, I know it. And, you understand I have to leave right?" She stopped to look at him. He didn't quite understand, but as of right now he was accepting it. It encouraged her. "It's been so hard lately. Things have changed. _I've_ changed. And I can't stay. A new slayer is coming. She's more Council-made-ready than I am, so she might not be that accepting of you. So don't let her kill you. I'm sure the others will explain to her that she can't attack you though, well Xander won't, but you know? I want you to help her. And I want you to keep Giles, Xander, Willow, and mom safe. Help the new girl too, even if she doesn't want it. You don't have to let her know. I know you can be sneaky. But-" Buffy's voice faltered here. "Keep them safe."_

"_They're safe," Angel promised. Then he held her as she leaned into him, closing her eyes._

"_You know we'd never work," Buffy said._

"_I know." Buffy didn't move though and just let him hold her. Angel would keep them safe._

"_And call me, or contact me- Giles mentioned they didn't have phones- if something big is going down. I'll find a way to come and can help. They wouldn't even have to know."_

"_I can take care of it," Angel protested._

_Buffy simply replied, "I'm the Slayer."_

"_So is she."_

"_I'm me," Buffy said looking up at him. Angel smiled the tiniest of smiles. He couldn't argue with that. He understood that while Buffy trusted her family and friends with him, that if an apocalypse was going down, she'd want to be there personally. It was the Slayer in her. He would keep them safe. He would protect them with his non-life. With that they kissed one last time, letting go of the love they knew was there but that would never get to grow._

_End Flashback_

Her trip was approved by her mother and Buffy said her final good byes. Giles' friend would pick her up at the airport and take her into London. There, she would stay at some place called The Leaky Cauldron, get her school supply list, and then buy her things. Within a week she'd be on a train to Hogwarts. Buffy's mom and Giles took her to the airport. Joyce appreciated Mr. Giles' company and faith in her daughter. As they drove out of town, Buffy looked out her car window. The sign they passed said 'Now leaving Sunnydale.' Buffy closed her eyes, feeling a lightness as they drove further away from the Sunnydale, and the Hell she could literally feel beneath it.

Review please and let me know what you think! Pairing suggestions are still welcome. BA is not a pairing though! I'm acknowledging what was there in canon, but it never had a chance to get really serious yet and if you take Buffy away from Sunnydale like I'm doing, this early in season 2 it would never have grown into what was. And on a PS note, I never liked Angel once he left after season four, and I started not liking Xander too much after what he did when Angel went bad and I hated later seasons Willow. Sorry! But I did NOT Scooby bash, I merely portrayed them as I felt they were at this point, and you gotta remember, they are all teenagers, subject to mood swings and world-revolves-around-them moments! They aren't perfect, but Buffy hasn't been either. Let me know how you feel!


	5. Chapter 4: Of Wizards and Shopping

AN: Thanks to all reviewers! The last chapter got the most reviews so far. It encouraged me to make this one longer. The pairing suggestions I've gotten show Harry in the lead. However, I think I might try several pairings with several people. I mean, in normal life teenagers have multiple relationships so I might not keep everyone with one specific person necessarily. I wanna maybe play around and have breakups and different people together and stuff. We'll see where my muse takes me.

Oh and PS I'm American so the Hogwarts crew will probably sound American. Sorry! I'll try though and I have no idea how to do Hagrid speech so he won't be talking like Hagrid but he hopefully still will be acting like Hagrid. (We won't see him yet in this chapter anyways). Again, sorry!

Now...on to the fic!

Chapter 4: Of Wizards and Shopping

Buffy was wide awake and restless. She had slept most of the plane ride and had more bad dreams. She decided to resign herself that she will probably have nightmares about one thing or another for the rest of her short life. _Hmmph_. Reluctantly, Buffy walked off of the plane. She felt slightly childish, dragging her feet the way she did, but she was _not_ sulking! She was happy to get away, but she couldn't help feeling apprehension about having to start all over again. Whatever though, she looking at the paper for the hundredth time Giles had given her. Giles had given her a paper informing her to go to a place called The Leaky Cauldron. He had the name of the shops next to it so that Buffy could tell the cab driver where to go. It was a wizard pub and she had to focus hard on the name to see it. Whatever, she thought again. She looked around for her a payphone to call her mom. Her mom picked up on the first ring.

"Mom?" Buffy said.

"Buffy! How was the trip? Are you okay, do you know what to do?" her mom asked, concern for her little girl all alone in another country lacing her voice.

"I'm fine. The ride was long and my legs are a little crampy. I need to go get my luggage, but I just wanted to check in and let you know I'm alright. I probably won't get a chance to call you often at school, but I will try to write once every couple weeks or something."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just so happy for you. Mr. Giles told me what a wonderful school this was. We should have thought of private school for you earlier. It will be good for you, Buffy, really. Just please don't get in any trouble? I don't know what we'd do if we had to find you another school, although Sunnydale didn't kick you out so you could always go back..." Joyce said, slightly worried about her daughters knack of finding trouble. Were all teenagers this difficult? No, Buffy was just a special case, her special case.

"I'll try not to. I really gotta go now. And mom, I love you, okay? Please be carefully. Sunnydale has a lot of gangs and isn't always safe. If anyone bothers you or is scaring you, talked to Giles. He's a good guy, if a bit stuffy."

"_Mr_. Giles," she automatically corrected Buffy. "I love you too, I'll tell you what, I'll be safe if you will. Bye sweetheart. I love you," Joyce said.

"Safe. Promise," Buffy lied through her teeth. What is safety for a slayer? It doesn't exist. "Love you, mom," Buffy said again hanging up. Her mom would be fine. Angel promised.

Buffy turned and followed the signs to the baggage claim to collect her luggage. She hauled each bag off one by one. There were a lot of bags, plus her weapons trunk Giles had shipped ahead of her to The Leaky Cauldron. Buffy was not a light packer. While her slayer strength helped with the weight of the bags, she only had so many hands and had to struggle to get all her bags. She ended up having to use one of those little cart thingies. It was a very grumpy Buffy who ended up at The Leaky Cauldron. Fortunately, she spotted the place with no trouble at all. Her slayer senses made it a no brainer. She could have found the place with her eyes closed. The place had a faint hum to it. Since dying, her special slayer senses had gotten stronger, plus she had been working harder on developing them, and not just relying on the poor fashion of vampires to pick them out. She should have been doing that before, she thought. Patrolling went much faster when she feel where the demons were. She straightened up, armed herself with her sunny Californian girl façade, smoothed out her short curve hugging casual dress and walked into the place, dragging her stuff behind her and making a show about how heavy it all was, and not having to act about making several trips. It _was_ a lot of stuff. Upon her entering, everyone turned and stared at the muggle looking girl until she approached the bar.

"Hi! I'm Buffy. I'm supposed to be staying here until the new term at Hogwarts starts. I'm American. And I'm new. This is my first time in England even actually." Buffy stopped not knowing what else to say. She looked around the place and observed her surroundings. Everyone was dressed funny. Giles didn't say anything about the horrible fashion! She stood out like a sore thumb. Great, just great. Tom came to her rescue though.

"Nice to meet you, Buffy. My name is Tom. I was told you would be coming. We have a room all set up for you already. It's a pleasure, really."

"Thanks. Um, could someone help me carry my stuff?"

"Sure thing the house elves are already on it," Tom said and as Buffy pondered what a house elf was, three weird looking little creatures with huge eyes and floppy ears in rags (was that a pillowcase on that one?) appeared and took off with her stuff up the stairs. Buffy just stared, feeling more uncomfortable by the moment. Tom chuckled, which normally would have irritated her but didn't for some reason.

"Those are house elves and your stuff will be in you room. Room 14," he said handing her the key. "That trunk of yours is here too," he said to Buffy's relief. "Now, I was also instructed to give you a school supply list and you'll find everything you need in Diagon Alley. Someone will be by tomorrow morning to help you with your shopping. Until then, I recommend you just get yourself settled and eat something. The bill's been paid for, anything you want."

Buffy snorted at the idea of needing help shopping. But then after looking at the list cluelessly, conceded to the fact that she probably would need help. And diagonally? What was he talking about? She didn't ask questions though.

"Thanks," Buffy said. She flashed a pretty smile and went upstairs. She confirmed that all her stuff was in fact in her room and that the weird little creatures didn't take them away. She wished Giles would have explained more. At the thought of Giles though, she felt a wave of longing for everyone she left behind. She could always visit but it would never be the same. She suddenly regretted her treatment of everyone. She really couldn't help the way she behaved though; all the fear and anger and panic and everything else was trapped inside her. They could never understand but that didn't mean they deserved her harsh treatment. She was _glad_ they couldn't understand. How terrible if they all had to go what she went through.

Back in Sunnydale she had felt a darkness building up inside her, contributing to her attitude after her death. Here, it wasn't so bad without the Hellmouthy vibes. She decided she would try for a fresh new start, maybe a fresh attitude (or maybe not, she'll play it by ear) even if she wasn't the same girl who had come to Sunnydale hoping for the same thing. But that was on the Hellmouth. Things had to be easier, away from the entrance to Hell itself, right? Shit, she hoped she didn't just jinx herself.

The next morning Buffy was up surprising early, well _she_ felt it was early anyways. It was around 10. She got showered and dressed into some dark tight jeans, a tight t-shirt, and some sunglasses. She looked good. She also put on her silver cross Angel gave to her. _Angel_. No denying she had a crush on the vampire she reflected. More than a crush, she cared for him. He was way hot and had the whole mysterious vibe going. But he was a vampire so it was better that she wouldn't get to see him. It was a confusing relationship if you could call it that yet and there was no way it would have ended well, _would it have_? She'd never know. He would keep them safe, that was what mattered now. She wrinkled her nose as she thought if maybe she'd meet some new hotties at her new school. All she could picture were a bunch of mini Gileses. In tweed robes. Ew. She ran downstairs two at a time and greeted Tom.

"Hey, morning," she greeted. "Have anything for breakfast?" she asked.

"Whatever you want. Did you sleep well?' Tom replied.

"Sure. And I'll take pancakes. So who's meeting me and when?" Buffy refused to let her mood dampen after he asked if she slept well. She had a dream about a fight. It was definitely a slayer dream. There were colors flying everywhere and they were clearly wizards by their clothes. They also had these pathetic little excuses for stakes that the colors were coming from that she assumed were the wands. There was also a curtain thingy. All things considering, it wasn't that bad of a dream compared to what she was used to and it was pretty straight forward, not all cryptic or anything. It was a wizard versus wizard battle. She couldn't make out the faces of anyone fighting though and the curtain didn't make sense. Hey, at least it didn't look to be predicting her death.

"Professor McGonagall will be taking you to Diagon Ally. She should be here soon. She's your transfiguration professor," Tom said.

"Cool," Buffy said digging into her pancakes. Then she paused and added, "Trans what?"

"Transfiguration. A subject you will be taking at Hogwarts. Don't worry you'll learn all about that later. She is also the head of Gryffindor House. Don't worry about that either," he responded to her confused frown. How could she not know what transfiguration was he thought. Then he looked up as a woman approached them.

"Good morning, Tom. Ms. Summers I presume?" the woman asked, fixing her gaze on Buffy.

"That'd be me. So you're Professor McGongall? Nice to meet you," answered Buffy politely will finishing her food. She downed her milk too.

"McGonagall," she corrected, watching the small blonde girl finish off her pancakes. "I am a friend of Rupert Giles."

"Oh so you're Giles' friend. Cool. Thanks for the breakfast, Tom. So are we going yet?" Buffy analyzed the stern faced woman. She wondered how she knew Giles.

"Yes we will be going now. Goodbye, Tom." Tom said goodbye back and Minerva looked at Buffy again. She was very American for lack of a better word. Rupert had assured her and Dumbledore that Buffy was a very smart girl. He only had praise for the girl and Minerva honestly couldn't see where it came from, although she was friendly enough. He also said she had been through some traumatic events, although he wouldn't elaborate, and that she was having some trouble dealing and to be patient with her. She didn't seem to be very troubled, Minerva thought. Buffy bounced out of her seat.

They reached the wall in the back of The Leaky Cauldron. Buffy looked suspicious and less then impressed.

"I thought we were going to Diagonally or something. This is a wall," Buffy stated blunty and rudely. She also itched to grab the knife she had someone hidden in her tight ensemble. No way could this be a trap. Not with all the people just around the corner. And McGonagall was a friend of Giles. No way. Right?

Minerva just smiled, noticing not only Buffy's impatient stance, but the weariness in her eyes. She noted that. "Welcome to Diagon Ally," she said, stressing the space between the words while tapping a sequence of bricks and the wall opened. Buffy, who had been standing cross armed with her hip out in a standard impatient annoyed stance, simply raised her eyebrows. She had lived on the Hellmouth. She had slayed on the Hellmouth. She was not impressed by a magic wall.

"Cool," she said smirking to herself as McGonagall clearly expected a little more jaw dropping or something. She stepped through while Minerva, feeling irritated, hurried up to walk ahead of her. She led Buffy to the bank and Buffy immediately went tense. She saw the goblins and they might her spider sense tingle lightly.

"Those," said Buffy. "What are they?" She didn't take her eyes away from the dozens of nasty looking little creatures. Never underestimate tiny.

"_Those _are Goblins. They run the bank and have for centuries. They are not the nicest of things but they won't hurt you as long as you do not steal anything. They are very efficient bankers, if a bit rude." Again, McGonagall noticed Buffy's suspicion. Most people upon first seeing goblins were a little weary but Buffy looked ready to attack.

Buffy relaxed after McGonagall reassured her. Goblins. If they don't attack she won't. Besides, she wanted her money. She gave them the large amount of muggle money she had. Her mother had given her enough for the school years and Giles had also provided her with some. She was very thankful to Giles and decided if Giles was friends with this woman than she would trust her. She happily collected her wizarding money even if she didn't understand their money system. Turning to McGonagall, she smiled, truly excited. Her face lit up.

"Let's go shopping!"

Minerva was amused by Buffy's enthusiasm. Buffy clearly was eager to shop. Her lips twitched upward slightly.

"First, we need to get you a wand. Olivander's is right over there. I'll stay with you for that but then I must be going. I have some errands to run. I trust you can find the stuff on your list on your own. If you have any trouble, just go back to the Leaky Cauldron and I'll check on you later and help with anything you didn't get."

As Minerva led Buffy towards the wand shop, she took another look at her out of the corner of her eye. Buffy stood out. With the war, Minerva didn't want Buffy going up to strangers asking where things were. She looked muggle and might ask the wrong person who would gladly lead her away and hurt her. Rupert would not be pleased if the young girl he clearly cared about was hurt. Minerva did not want anything to happen to Buffy either. She was only a child, really. And Rupert had told her Buffy was unfamiliar with magic, so how could she defend herself? "And do not go into Knockturn Ally. It's a dangerous place with dangerous thing and nothing you need anyways."

"Sure," said Buffy, making a mental note to check the place out later. Dangerous, huh? Right up her ally, no pun intended she thought. Maybe they sell weapons. She could always use more weapons.

"I'm sure I'll be okay. Besides, I'm a _fantastic_ shopper," Buffy said with a grin.

McGonagall didn't comment on that and lead her to Olivander's. Buffy was creeped out slightly. The place gave out weird vibes. She felt someone approaching from behind her as she was looking around. She spun around.

"Welcome to Olivander's. A little old aren't you?" an old man said. Look who's talking Buffy thought, but didn't respond. He greeted McGonagall and then snapped his fingers and a tape measure appeared.

"Wand arm?" Olivander asked.

"Um, right?" guessed Buffy. She could use both arms almost equally well though, being the slayer and all. Right was still her preferred one though.

"No, left!" she suddenly said instead, earning her weird glances from both adults. She wanted her favored arm to be available for a weapon. She figured if she could learn this magic junk, then she could use her left for her wand and her stake in the right. Besides, she could use her left arm better than most people used their right so she'd be fine.

"Alright try this one" said Olivander. "Willow, 16 inches, Unicorn hair." Buffy jerked the wand and it was quickly taken away. "No, no," Olivander muttered. He repeated the process startling Buffy a number of times as something exploded or flew off the shelf. Several wands even exploded in her hand, which she felt horrible for. Buffy wondered if everyone made this much mess of the shop or took so long. Maybe Giles was wrong and she couldn't do magic afterall.

"Not to worry, we'll find you one," Olivander said making Buffy wonder if she spoke out loud. McGonagall sighed. "Try this," he said bringing one out from the back. A small spark came out and Olivander was delighted. "Closer," he said snatching it away and going to the back again. He came back with a couple more boxes. "Here."

Buffy waved the wand. She felt something primal in her stir and a power awaken. She breathed as gold and sliver sparks came out. It was beautiful and reminder her faintly of a sparkler. A really pretty sparkler.

"Perfect!" exclaimed Olivander. "Very rare. Yew 13 inches, a powerful wood. He Who Must Not Be Named had the same wood," he said causing McGonagall's eyes to widen ever so slightly. "Two magical cores, which is what makes these boxes all rare. Very old, two cores are not often done anymore. Runespoor Fang, best for those who deal with dark arts and a drop of Slayer blood," he said meeting her eyes at that last comment. Buffy stared at him. _He knew_. He wouldn't say anything though she felt sure somehow. "Strong wood, won't break easily," he said with a wink McGonagall missed. "Very pleased to meet you, Buffy Summers. I expect great things from you," he said. She paid and they left. Buffy remembered she never told him her name.

"Well that's over and I must be going. Remember what I said," Minerva said leaving Buffy to herself. That took unusually long she thought And what a strange wand the girl ended up with. Two cores. She shivered at the thought of slayer blood, she had never heard of that and she only knew a few people with Runespoor fang and they were all Aurors or Deatheaters. Very strange girl indeed.

Buffy loved her wand. It felt right somehow. Like it was hers. Plus, a strong wood wouldn't break if it had to be used as an improvised stake. Good. And now she could go shopping! She bought her books, which was boring although Giles would have a field day in the bookstore. Willow would have too, for that matter. Then she got her other supplies and robes. She didn't like the robes but made the best she could and bought a variety of different colors and the most flattering she could find. She startled herself by actually looking decent in them. She dropped some stuff off at her room, ate, changed into a robe as to not stand out so much and went out for weapons. She entered Knockturn Ally and immediately felt the difference in the air. It felt dark. She could taste it almost. A different dark then the Hellmouth though. She saw several different stores with weird things but kept her mind focused on a new weapon. Without running into trouble, she found a shop lined with weapons. She knew she'd have to come back here again she thought as she examined all the things on the wall. She picked up a dagger carefully looking at it then turned suddenly so it was at the throat of the guy sneaking up behind her.

"Little girls shouldn't play with weapons," he said in an oily voice, hiding his surprise as the girl lowered it and twirled it in her fingers. He had expected to sneak up on the girl and before he could blink she had the weapon at his throat.

"I know what I'm doing," she answered and put the dagger down and ran her fingers over a crossbow and a mace. She picked up a sword that caught her attention and gave it some swings.

"I can see," said the man smoothly, impressed by the slight, pretty girl handling the sword with ease. It wasn't the most expensive, intricate or fanciest weapon, but for practical purposes the best he had at the moment. He wondered who she was. "What's you name?"

"Does it matter?" asked the girl, handing him the exact amount of money the sword was labeled to cost and walking out before he could say anything. The man was definitely impressed and hoped she would be back. If she came back he would try to remember to tell the Dark Lord about her.

It was dark outside and surprise, surprise she ran into a vamp on her way out of the ally. It was there to do some shopping of it's own as Knockturn Ally was not only a place for wizards but for other dark creatures such as demons and vampires, when it was night at least. Buffy got to test out her new sword. She cut off his head and hid the sword in her robe. So much easier than hiding weapons in tight pants or with a mini skirt on. Then again, in Sunnyhell people would usually ignore a weapon if they saw one, rationalizing it somehow. Or at least they never questioned her. She went back to The Leaky Cauldron, satisfied with her weapon and with a smile on her face. Buffy Summers had had a good day.

AN: I looked up somewhere on line what the different woods and cores meant. So all that stuff is legitimate. Can't remember where. (Except slayer's blood, obviously. And the part that only Deatheaters and Aurors had runespoor fang.)

Please remember to review, I appreciate it. Longer chapter reviews desperately wanted.


	6. Chapter 5: Fire Starter

Thanks again for the reviewers!

Just to clarify what year in HP verse, it is after book 5, book 6 hasn't happened because when I started writing this the first time book 6 wasn't out yet. I will incorporate book 6 probably though, so you will definitely see a change from the first time I did this story.

Chapter 5: Fire Starter

Buffy looked around in frustration. Was this some kind of joke? It was three days after she had first come to the Leaky Cauldron and now it was time to go to Hogwarts. But her ticket didn't make sense. It had to be a mistake.

"Excuse me, sir?" she said stopping a station worker. "Do you know where platform 9 and three quarters is?" The man laughed at her when she showed him her ticket.

"You've got a fake ticket or something, miss. There's no such thing," he said walking away and leaving her by herself.

Buffy stomped on over to platform nine and sat down with her stuff. She didn't know what to do. She should have looked at her ticket before she got to the station. She decided she'd go back to the Leaky Cauldron for help, even if it meant missing the train, when she noticed four red heads heading right towards the area between platforms nine and ten. The teens were dragging trunks. She cocked her head curiously.

"C'mon Ginny, hurry up!" shouted a tall boy. The girl struggled with her heavy trunk.

"I'm coming. I'm not the one who's missed the trained before you know," she said to the boy. They both disappeared into the wall. Wait, disappeared? Buffy walked to where they disappeared and studied it as the other red heads approached.

"Do you need something, dear?" a motherly looking woman asked.

"I'm looking for platform nine and three quarters. Is this it? How did they get through?" Buffy asked. The man laughed.

"Hogwarts?" he asked. When she nodded he continued. "An American! You seem old for a first year. Are you an exchange student? Wonderful!" he exclaimed not giving Buffy a chance to answer. Buffy decided to like the man, even if he was strange.

"Actually not. I'm kinda new to all this. How do you get through though? I don't wanna miss the train..." she trailed off.

"Oh, muggle raised! Tell me, how do-" the man started before the woman cut him off, his wife Buffy deduced.

"Arthur, really! I'm Molly Weasley and this is Arthur Weasley. What's your name, dear?"

"Buffy. Buffy Summers," Buffy answered. The woman definitely had a mom vibe, making Buffy warm up to her immediately.

"I'm sorry, Arthur is just fascinated with muggles and muggle things. Don't get him started. Now, to get through, you simply walk straight through. It's easiest for first timers to take a running start," Mrs. Weasley explained. Buffy looked doubtful.

"Okay, here goes," she said. She grabbed her stuff and took a few paces back. What's the worst that could happen besides slamming head on into a brick wall? It's not like she hasn't taken a good beating before. Come to think of it, she's been slammed into brick walls before anyways. Here goes. She ran and braced herself for impact. It never came and she skidded to a halt on the other side. She took a moment and turned and thanked the Weasleys who had now joined her.

"Not a problem, Buffy. Good luck this year. You'll be fine," Mrs. Weasley said. Buffy smiled at the couple. She thanked the couple before heading off and boarding the train. She looked around, feeling out of place again, and finally found an empty compartment. Buffy sat down and waited for the train to go. No turning back now. She was soon joined by a group of three students.

"Mind if we join you?" asked a pretty girl with bushy brown hair.

"No, go ahead," replied Buffy. While she didn't really feel like talking, she figured she was in a new country, new culture, new school, new world. She should probably socialize some. She didn't want everyone here thinking of her as the weird, violent, or freakish new girl like people often thought of her in Sunnydale. Maybe it could be different here. Besides, didn't she used to be good at socializing and making friends? She smiled.

"I'm Buffy. I'm new."

"I'm Hermione Granger. This is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." She paused waiting for Buffy to react to Harry's name. She didn't. If anything, she smiled slightly when she heard Ron's name. "Are you transferring from the Salem Academy?" she asked.

"Oh, no! I've never been to wizarding school. I just got my wand a few days ago. I've been raised muggle," Buffy said.

"I'm muggle born and Harry was raised muggle too," Hermione said, trying to make the new girl- Buffy, what a strange name- feel more at home. She didn't know Buffy was thinking the same about her name.

"Where are you from?" asked Ron.

"California. Good old Sunnyhe- I mean Sunny_dale_."

"So why here?" Harry asked, not noticing the slip. Harry had only been half listening before. This had been the worst summer of his life and he couldn't bring himself to care about much. He might have been interested in Buffy if he weren't still depressed. But as it was, he wasn't, although he felt a strange kinship with the girl. Still, he was always suspicious of strangers now. Never trust anyone. He couldn't afford to mess up again and get another person killed. He glanced at Hermione and Ron. He loved them, and he honestly didn't think he would have made it through the summer without them. Ron and even the twins and Ginny wrote him a few times a week. They all worried about him. Hermione had visited the Dursley's and invited him to spend the summer with her family. They were really nice. He spent a couple weeks there before Dumbledore made him return to his house and he wasn't allowed to go to the Burrow. That had made him angry. He was 17 years old now! (AN: I bumped all their ages up a bit) Anyways, after that he sank into depression and anger at life and was having trouble pulling himself out. Unbeknownst to him, Buffy was going through something similar. She didn't fear the Master quite as much as she did after the death ordeal anymore, after all she had been able to kill him (she still feared him some though and had nightmares). Her death had raised so many new questions and realizations about herself and what it meant to be the Slayer that scared her. It opened her up to the dark side of a Slayer, the one she would have been perfectly content ignoring the rest of her life.

"Dunno. Just where they sent me. I don't know if the American one would take me. Mom had a hard enough time finding a muggle school that would take me after Hemery High. Besides, Giles knew people here."

"Who's Giles?" asked Ron.

"What happened at Hemery," asked Harry at the same time, curiosity getting the best of him.

"Great," murmured Buffy. "Everyone just wants to know about me. Again." Then she spoke more loudly, saying, "Oh Giles is my wa- aaay cool librarian. Librarian. I know that sounds weird but my dad's been MIA for the most part since the divorce and I guess Giles is almost like a dad to me in Sunnydale. He watches out for me." Oops! She almost let Giles' role slip. Buffy didn't notice Hermione's frown at the word Sunnydale. It sounded familiar to her but she couldn't place it. And she had noticed Buffy slip up the first time she said the town's name. "And I kindagotexpelledfromHemery," she continued, saying the last part really quickly. She decided not to mention, just like she never mentioned to her Sunnydale friends the fact that also had to spend time at a mental hospital.

"Wicked!" exclaimed Ron. "What did you do?" Harry looked at her with interest. He wondered what she could have done. Hermione mentally sighed. Harry and Ron did not need another trouble maker; they got into enough on their own.

"It was nothing..." Buffy trailed off.

"Oh, c'mon, tell us! You should hear some of the stuff Fred and George have done. They're my twin brothers. They own a joke shop now, practically everything in there is made by them. You couldn't have done anything worse then they did! They kicked arse in pranking! They're the best since the Marauders." Ron continued to tell her about their now famous exit from Hogwarts last year. "And me and Harry have almost been expelled tons of times! If Harry weren't the Boy Who Lived, we might have been! Tell her about the car in second year, Harry," Ron encouraged.

Harry forced a smile at the memory. He couldn't bring himself to really mean it though. Every since Sirius died, nothing was the same. Life had lost meaning. "Ron's dad," Harry started with false enthusiasm.

Buffy noticed the falseness. She was the queen of forced cheeriness and putting on a brave face for others. She decided to interrupt him. And besides, with everything the twins had done...

"I burnt down the gym."

Ron's eyes lit up, despite not knowing what a gym was. Hermione frowned in concern. Even the twins didn't have arson on their record. Harry wondered why the pretty blonde would do such a thing.

"On purpose?" Harry asked.

Phew, finally got it out. That was a hard chapter to write, it just didn't wanna get done. Feedback?


	7. Chapter 6: Everybody Hates Buffy

Thank you again to those who reviewed. (Those of you who didn't-shame on you for not reviewing! jk! I am guilty of not always reviewing. I should start though because I know how nice it is to get reviews.)

Chapter 6: Everybody Hates Buffy

The train finally stopped. Harry watched Buffy closely as they got off, wondering what on earth was her story, forgetting his personal sorrows for a moment, _Sirius_. How did the American school overlook her? And how did they finally find her? She was decidedly a strange girl. She was an American, Californian no less, who didn't know magic going to Hogwarts. She seemed ditzy at times but Harry suspected she wasn't. Also, she would not elaborate on how she burned down her gymnasium. Generally, gyms don't accidentally get burned down. Maybe it was accidental magic, like when he blew up his aunt. Or maybe it wasn't an accident. Why wouldn't she just explain, unless she was hiding something? As he watched he noticed her attention focus as the carriages came out. It looked like she was looking at the horses.

"Strange horses, huh?" Harry asked trying to see if he was correct in guessing that she could see them.

"What are they? They're beautiful, in their own creepy way," she quickly added the last part.

"You can see them?" asked Hermione. Buffy gave her an odd look.

"I know I can seem a little spacey sometimes but I'm not that gone," Buffy replied, annoyed. "Of course I can see them." She rolled her eyes.

"They're thestrals. You can't see them unless you've seen someone die. Most students can't see them, but Hagrid, the Care or Magical Creatures professor, taught us about them so we all know they are there. But you can actually see them?" Hermione questioned.

Buffy thought carefully before she answered. Of course she's seen death, she's a slayer! She had seen tons of people die, people she wasn't able to save. She also was the deliverer of death to countless demons so had seen many demon deaths. She wondered if it was only human deaths that counted, not that it mattered. Plus, she herself had died. Not that she could tell any of them this.

"My cousin, she died in front of me when I was younger. I watched her die." Buffy didn't like that memory, but it was the only one she could think of. At the time it had traumatized her and it was the beginning of her hospital hatred. She also felt guilty over the death, like she somehow should have been able to stop it. Geez, even then she had the hero complex! The group accepted Buffy's answer and offered their sympathies, although Harry gave her a sideways glance. Harry confused her. One minute he would seem all sullen and then it's like he would come to himself. The red head she saw with Ron earlier brought Buffy back out of her thoughts.

"Hey, I'm Ginny. You're Buffy right? I couldn't help overhearing you talking with 'the trio' earlier."

"Yeah, and you're Ron's sister?" Ginny nodded in confirmation. Harry and his friends had gone on ahead to talk to Hagrid. "The trio, huh? I'm guessing they have a bit of a rep? And what's Harry's deal? I swear he broods like a mini Angel." He really did remind her of Angel, Buffy realized after she said that. He had that same brooding quality she quickly had deduced and he was a hottie too. He had the dark and handsome thing going for him, although he wasn't nearly as filled out as the vampire. But still, there was a resemblance that startled Buffy and made her wonder why she didn't notice it before.

Ginny ignored the Angel reference for now. She would have to ask about it later, and she would because she liked Buffy immediately for some reason. While Ginny had come out of her shell and grown into an outgoing and pretty girl, she still didn't have any really close female friends. She and Hermione were good friends, but she was Ron's friend primarily. But this was all cast aside in her shock.

"You don't know who Harry is? Harry Potter?" she squeaked emphasizing the Potter. Buffy just looked blank. "The Boy Who Lived!" Buffy still didn't know, although she recalled Ron saying something similar and Ginny gave a brief overview of Harry's fame the rest of the way to the castle (effectively summarizing the first 5 HP books). Buffy felt a stab of understanding towards Harry. Life sucked sometimes. He was too young to have some evil wizard after him. At least it seemed attacks on him came pretty much the same time once a year, instead of vamps and demons going after you every night. Maybe this year she could help. How ironic, the Boy Who Lived and the Girl Who Died. With that they reached the castle and McGonagall led Buffy and the first years away to be sorted.

The hat sang again about House unity. (AN: I won't even try to make up a good hat song. Readers, be my guests to try and if you come up with a cool one, I can put it in and give you credit!)

"Honestly," said Ron. "We're never going to have unity as long as the bloody Slytherins and Malfoy are around." He glared over at the Slytherins. Harry agreed with him about that. He felt anger rise within him at the thought of Malfoy. Hermione just clucked her tongue at their antics as Harry too glared over at the Slytherins, focusing his attention on Draco Malfoy. The boys' gazes locked. Malfoy sneered.

"I hope Buffy gets Gryffindor. I liked her," Ginny spoke up, making Harry finally shift his gaze away from his glaring contest with the Slytherin boy. "And we never really get new students. I wonder if she'll want to play quidditch?"

"She seems nice," Harry said cautiously. "But there is something weird about her."

"Oh Harry, stop being paranoid," Hermione chided. "She's a 16 year old American muggle-raised-until-now girl. Not exactly a prime candidate for a Death Eater spy. Besides, she appears a little empty headed to me. She was a perfectly nice girl, even if she dresses completely inappropriately. Does she want everyone staring at her? And I feel bad for her. I know I get homesick sometimes during the year, but can you imagine how it is for her? She's in another country, far away from home, in a new school with no friends. And she doesn't know hardly anything about magic!"

Hermione was right, Harry realized. "That's what she wants us to think," he mumbled reluctantly, feeling bad for being suspicious of the new girl. He watched her as she stood in the front waiting to be sorted, looking out of place among the younger 1st years, yet completely confident and assured of her self, except for the fact that she was wringing the life out of her hands.

"I think she's a fantastic dresser!" Ron put in.

"Who is she?" said Neville, joining in their conversation.

"That's Buffy, the new American girl," Ginny answered him.

Meanwhile, Buffy looked out over the Great Hall. She found Hogwarts to be very impressive. It looked magnificent on the outside and just as cool inside. Plus it was huge! While it was difficult to shock Buffy, she did find it all amazing. And the ceiling looked like the sky! She wasn't used to such awesome supernatural stuff. Normally, it was all just evil stuff trying to kill her. She glanced around the Hall again. There were so many students! Facing the forces of darkness with a good pun and a confident grin she could do. An entire hall full of students staring at her and whispering was a whole other story.

"Summers, Buffy!" McGonagall shouted. "Miss Summers is a new American student for those of you who don't know already. She is new to not only Hogwarts, but the wizarding community too. I expect you to welcome her warmly." Minerva inwardly sighed. She knew some students were going to give the girl a hard time, no matter what she said. Buffy didn't exactly look tough, and Minerva hoped the child would manage. Rupert was quite fond of her, after all.

Buffy sat on the stool like all the other first years. Despite her petite stature, she felt rather large on the little stool meant for 11 year olds. The worn looking hat was placed on her head.

'What have we here? A slayer. Oh my, how interesting. You will be quite a powerful witch in addition to a powerful Slayer if you can harness and control your power. But, what house to put you in?' Buffy didn't say anything. She just waited to hear more.

'Hufflepuff would not be for you, I can see that already. You may fool everyone else, but not me. You're smart enough for Ravenclaw, but you aren't much into school work are you? And not nearly cautious enough for a methodical Ravenclaw. No, no. You aren't Ravenclaw material. Slytherin. You have the drive, ambition, cleverness, and even ruthless of a Slytherin when need be. You have to in order to still be alive! And you're a bit of a rebel, not one to follow the rules. You aren't a born wizard, but a Slayer's blood is prized and pure. It always has to be blood, Salazar had known. He would value you. And Gryffindor? You're a warrior, a fighter. You're a fiery one, and have a Gryffindor's passion and bravery, lots of bravery, and a lot of heart. You would make a fine Gryffindor, but do you belong there? A slayer's power comes from darkness, even though you are a champion of the light. Slayer is another word for killer, you know. You belong with the shadows; you could never be a Gryffindor.

"Slytherin!" shouted the hat. Buffy was shocked. Darkness, shadows? The words echoed in her mind. How dare it say that stuff about her! From what it said about Slytherin, she did fit the bill, but still. And killer? Was she just a killer? No, she saved the world! How's that for bravery and heart, stupid hat. Why couldn't she be a Gryffindor? She had liked Ginny and the others.

Before she took off the hat, it whispered one last thing. "You think you know, but you've only just begun." Buffy didn't know what to think, so she marched off towards the green table, too deep in thought to notice how silent the hall had gone as she was put in Slytherin. Everyone was shocked. Even Dumbledore looked surprised. She was muggle born, wasn't she? How could she have been put in Slytherin? She didn't even know magic!

"So much for being our friend," said Ron. "She's evil." Ginny just looked disappointed.

"How can she be in Slytherin? They have always only selected pure blood wizards. Always. It just doesn't make sense," Hermione said.

"Unless I wasn't just paranoid," said Harry. "What if it was all an act? What if she isn't muggle born and she's a Death eater spy?"

"But Dumbledore-" Neville started.

"Oh yeah, Dumbledore never misjudges people," Harry said sarcastically. "Remember Quirrell, the Moody impersonator, or Lockhart? Not to mention Snape"

"She could be adopted and no one knew she had wizard blood," Hermione pointed out, after giving Harry a look her lumping Professor Snape in with Quirrell and the others. "Most wizards have wizard children so if they gave one up for adoption-"

"Like a pure blood wizard would give their child up to muggles!" exclaimed Ron. "Really, Hermione. You should know that. Besides, talk about a stretch!"

"Unless she was half blood," stated Ginny. "Then she could have easily ended up in a muggle home. Here's a scenario: A wizard and a muggle have a baby. The wizard father does not want the child of the muggle, so the muggle gives up her child because she can't raise it on her own. The child ends up in a muggle family, but has wizard blood. She somehow goes unnoticed or her parents throw away her letter and now she finds out somehow. We don't know Buffy's background story. And a half blood can be put in Slytherin. Tom Riddle was a half blood."

Everyone was surprised by Ginny. Not only in her logic, but that she mentioned Tom Riddle. She never spoke of what happened her first year.

"He Who Must Not Be Named was half blood?" asked Neville. "I never knew."

"Similar to Hitler in a way," said Hermione. "He was part Jewish, yet wanted them exterminated. And Ginny does have an excellent point Harry and Ron. You needn't jump to conclusions.

"She's a Slytherin though now. She can't be trusted," said Harry as Ron nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Buffy ate her food in silence. No one talked to her. One pug nosed girl had even sneered at her. All the other students got cheers from their tables. She knew already that they did not like anything to do with muggles. She was not a muggle or even just a muggle born person, or mud blood as had been explained to her earlier, although that was a derogatory term not to be used. She was the Slayer, and soon to be a witch to boot. But they couldn't know that. She looked over to the Gryffindor table where the nice people she had met earlier were. She especially liked Ginny. They had clicked and Ginny's hair made her think of Willow, even though Harmony or whatever was closer to Wills in personality. Now those two would make a team! Harry and Ron caught her looking over and glared at her. She knew the Houses had issues, but that was ridiculous. They had gotten along fine before and now they were giving her death looks. They hated her for being a Slytherin. Someone threw a roll at her which she batted away without even looking over. This was going to be a long year.

Reviews are very, very much wanted. I LOVE reviews. And feedback. (And they encourage quicker updates, wink wink.) I was cool and put up this chapter pretty quickly, so now it's your turn to be cool.


	8. Chapter 7: Illusions

Okay, I will definitely need feedback for this chapter! The original chapter was written before HBP so I had to change like everything. I don't really know if it's as smooth as it was before now. So review! And P.S. Blaise is a girl in this, even though in HBP we find out Blaise is a guy. This is not following all of HBP cannon either. This is my story.

The creatures I used for Hagrid's class came from http/ Oh, and I have no clue how to do Hagrid speech. Sorry! Just go with it. And I took a quote from Snape (if his speech about the dark arts sounds familiar...) from mugglenet.

Chapter 7: Illusions

Buffy woke up the next morning and looked at her schedule. Potions first with Gryffindor. She also had Defense Against the Dark Arts with them but not until later. It was going to be a long day. Last night after dinner no one had talked to her still, although her slayer hearing did allow her to pick up they were talking about her, nothing good though. That, and everyone seemed to be buzzing about the new Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. From what she gathered, The new DADA teacher had been the potions teacher and was not very well liked, except by the Slytherin House. Her house now.

Buffy longed for the comfort and familiarity of the Hellmouth, strange as that sounds, and her mom and Giles. Especially for her friends though. Being unliked by everyone was decidedly not cool she thought. And she knew she'd never learn her way around the castle. This was way worse than being a freshman again!

Buffy ate breakfast alone. This really sucked. Afterwards, she trailed some of the other Slytherins so that she'd find the Potions classroom. On her way out of the hall, she noticed Ginny giving her a tentative smile. Buffy smiled back. Maybe she could still be friends with Ginny.

"This is going to be great, at least for potions" Ron said. Slughorn actually liked Harry. Harry had met him earlier that summer, but had assumed he'd been the new DAD teacher. Slughorn also had invited him, Ginny, Hermione, and some others to talk with him last night. Ron had been a little upset that he had been left out, but was back in high spirits at the thought of a Potions without Snape.

Harry opened his used book and paid focused on the class. He would show that he was actually good at Potions, and that Snape was just a bad teacher! He got to work on the potion. His book was hard to read though. There were so many scribbles written on it. Harry frowned as he read the scribbles. They weren't scribbles, they were tips on how to make the potions...Harry smiled.

Buffy was concentrating on her potion. It was so similar to chemistry! She wasn't very good at chemistry, but at least it was a little bit familiar, and hey, no formulas! She was familiar with a few ingredients, but not many, from Giles attempts to teach her things like this. Even without her limited knowledge, all she had to do was follow the instructions and bam! Potion! She didn't understand the properties of some of the ingredients, but Draco was a big help. When Slughorn first forced her with Draco, it was miserable. He had to be the worst Slytherin of them all. He was cruel the first half of class, but after he realized she was more competent than she pretended, they slipped into silence and worked on the potion. That didn't mean he was nice, but clearly he had wanted to pass. Buffy skillfully chopped ingredients. Draco had decided she was best at that and the mixing, while he did the measuring and other work. Buffy was careless at measuring. They were going along quicker than anyone, as most people struggled to chop the thick something-root.

Draco was impressed. The new girl was decent enough, for a first timer at potions, despite her sloppiness at it. And she was pretty. But how did a mud blood get into Slytherin he wondered? She was a mystery Draco was determined to solve. Maybe she wasn't a mud blood. Slytherin would never take a mud blood! He watched her finish chopping.

"Okay, now add it into the cauldron- slowly! Don't mess up everything I've worked on."

"_You've_ worked on? I helped too, you know," Buffy responded angrily.

"Is there a problem, you two?" Slughorn came up and asked when he noticed they were arguing.

"No, sir. I'm just trying to get Summers to listen to me and she won't." Draco lazily looked at Buffy. "I wouldn't want her to screw up our potion-"

"I can read the instructions! I don't need you and-"

"Miss Summers, from what Professor Snape has told me, Draco here is a fine potions maker and I expect you to listen to him. I know this is all new to you, so try to let Draco help you," Slughorn added with a friendly smile. She was a pretty one. She hadn't done too badly either, for being brand new at this. Maybe he'd have to invite her to his little parties. There was something about her that was intriguing.

Buffy's eyes flashed. They weren't being fair! She was trying and this was her first time doing potions and it was a hard class and... She stopped her in Willow style babbling. She smiled her sunniest smile. At least he was nice. She had overheard horror stories from the Gryffindors about the old Potions teacher. She would have him though for DADA. She smirked. That was a subject she was looking forward to.

Transfiguration didn't go as well for Buffy. They had it with the Ravenclaws, who were all it seemed to her experts at the subject. Buffy wasn't as good at Transfiguration. Potions didn't involve a wand. Transfiguration she just couldn't get the hang of! Either it didn't work at all or the object blew up or something. On the bright side, maybe she should try transfiguring a vampire into something and it would blow him up! After class McGonagall stopped to talk to her.

"Miss Summers, I know this is new to you and you're struggling, and don't interrupt," she said as she noticed Buffy open her mouth to say something. "But you have a lot of catching up to do and I expect you to work hard and put some effort in it. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, sure. Is that it?" Stupid Transfiguration. As if she didn't have enough work!

"If you need it I can arrange a tutor for you. Practice, now that you've seen what this class is all about, and come back next class prepared. Then we will see about getting you a tutor."

"Thanks." Buffy walked out. All the other Slytherins were gone and she didn't know how to get to her next class! Dumbledore has given her a map of the school (a normal map) but it didn't help much. She found a set of stair cases that she needed to take, but then they all of a sudden moved on her! Even Sunnydale High, which was right on top of the Hellmouth, didn't have moving staircases! Looking around to see if the coast was clear, Buffy hopped over the rail and landed easily a floor below. Much easier! Confident where she was going now, Buffy made her way outside for her Care of Magical Creatures class. It was taught by Hagrid, the really really big guy. Buffy had overheard several of the other Slytherins making fun of him and saying he was a dim-witted half giant. She recalled that the Gryffindors had liked him though, and she jogged the rest of the way to the class, which they had with the Hufflepuffs. She noticed the students were gathered around Hagrid and he was bringing out large, colorful snails. She joined her fellow Slytherins quietly, ignoring the not so nice looks she received from a few.

"Now, who can tell me what these little guys are?" Hagrid said. Several sniggers were heard at his description of little. They were very large snails. (AN: remember, I warned you I can't do Hagrid speak!)

A Hufflepuff spoke up, and began in a Hermione like fashion, "A streeler is a giant sized snail that changes color every hour. They're fairly harmless." A few students relaxed after that. Hagrid was not known for having fairly harmless creatures.

"Good! Tha's right. Do any of yeh know their uses?" Everyone was silent. So Hagrid continued, "Besides bein' right pretty to look at, their venom can be used to kill Horklumps. I want yeh all to separate into twos and each go over to a snail. I need 'em fed. It shouldn't bite yeh, but be careful anyways. It shouldn't hurt too bad even if it did, but its venom can sting a human a bit. Horklumps can be a bit of a nuisance as they breed faster then rabbits, so streeler venom is used to control their populations. Awful though, killin' harmless horklumps."

Buffy enjoyed the class and she worked with a Slytherin girl named Blaise. Blaise was actually nice to her, as nice as Blaise usually got anyways. There weren't too many Slytherin girls in their year, and Blaise decided that no matter what other people said, Buffy was a Slytherin and Slytherins had to stick together. Plus, Buffy and her shared a similar sense of style. They got along well. Blaise was a lot like Cordelia. While Buffy and Cordelia had never gotten along, Buffy liked Blaise, and the fact that Blaise was the only Slytherin who didn't mind her helped. The class went along quickly, with her and Blaise goofing off most of the time. Buffy had missed goofing off. It was a decidedly fun class and experience wasn't necessary, at least today, although she had heard stories that Hagrid sometimes brought dangerous creatures and had a soft spot for monsters. Buffy liked animals, but she lacked a soft spot for anything that she would consider a true monster. Some of what some people considered monsters though really weren't, and she was aware of that. Even some demons she didn't consider real monsters, as there were some good demons. She would have loved to see a griffin or a dragon!

"What class do we have next?" Buffy asked Blaise.

"Charms. It's a breeze really, my best class," answered Blaise. "If you need help just ask me. I'm the best at charms. Me or Draco. We're the top 6th year Slytherins. I can't help you in divination though, I don't take it. Maybe Pansy could, she's one of the few Slytherins in it. I doubt she'd help, it's a pointless class anyways, and she sucks at it. Plus she doesn't like you.

"Why not? I mean, I'm not saying everyone has to love Buffy but this is insane. All the other houses hate me because I'm Slytherin, and Slytherin hates me for God knows why," Buffy complained. Pansy and Draco came up, with his goons trailing behind. Buffy tried not to giggle. They reminded her of mindless vampire minions.

"Simple. We don't like mud bloods." Draco looked her up and down. "And you're a mud blood. An American one on top of that. Slytherin only is for those with the best blood, pure blood. Real wizards."

It was only the second day here, yet Buffy had had enough. "I happen, Draco Malfoy, to come from a very long line of very powerful women. And my blood is anything but muddy or whatever. You want pure blood? My blood has more power in it than you could imagine!" _You're the one that sets me free! If you hadn't come, I couldn't go. Think about that! _Her blood had been what freed the Master from his prison. Hers. She shuddered. He had opened the Hellmouth, and it had been her blood that gave him the power to do so. It's always the blood. She shuddered again inwardly. Then, she reminded herself how she had come back and kicked his ass and saved the world. Yay her. If only she could tell Draco that, it might wipe the smirk off his face.

"I doubt there's anything pure about you blood, or you for that matter," said Pansy snidely.

Buffy was tempted to punch Pansy's stupid little pug nose. She was not a slut! Blaise just rolled her eyes at the fighting, as it was expected, and then went on to examine her perfectly manicured nails.

"Oh that's rich, coming from you. I see the way you hang on Malfoy. And I see the way, or rather lack of the way, Draco hangs back on you." Pansy fumed, which gave Buffy extreme satisfaction. It wasn't quite the same as punching someone, but it was still fun. She bounced after Blaise to Charms.

"He's so adorable!" Buffy had squealed to Blaise one seeing their Professor. Soon though, Buffy's enthusiasm waned. Despite what the other girl told her, charms was hard for her. Buffy figured that she'd suck in all classes with direct magic usage until she got used to it, if ever. While everyone was working on harder stuff, Flitwick had her working on floating a book. It was harder than using a feather like the first years started with, but easier than what the other sixth years were doing. She was warned she'd have to learn more quickly than normal. The book refused to float.

"This sucks! Move, damnit. Wingardium leviosa, wingardium leviosa, wingar-"

"Yes, shouting at it repeatedly will get it to move," Draco said sarcastically. Blaise had tried to tell her how to do it, but Buffy would try once or twice, then go back to the method she was doing now.

"Well, the other way isn't working either," Buffy replied, annoyed. Stupid magic school. Stupid, pretty castle that was impossible to get around. And stupid people who didn't like her. Stupid magic. She really, really wished there was a vampire she could beat the crap out of right now. Kick, punch, stab, slice, stab, stab... "Wingardium leviosa!" The book flew up and slammed against the ceiling. Everyone stared. Draco raised his eyebrows. Buffy smiled triumphantly. "Cool."

Buffy was in a better mood by the time she got to Divination. This was her second class with the Hufflepuffs. By the time she would walk out of the class, Buffy's mood would be back to bad. Trelawney had been telling them how to start working with their tea leafs, that they would review tea leafs and crystal balls most of the week and then would go deeper into dreams than they did last year and by the end of the year visions and prophecies. Buffy was interested in the dreams, being that she had foretelling dreams all the time. She dreamed of the future often, but also of things that have happened to her and even of things that have happened to other slayers. The prophecy part she wasn't so keen on. She hated prophecies. Besides, prophecies only caused trouble. _But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell you everything._ That was a lesson she had learned first hand. She hadn't liked that lesson.

"Oh, child! I see death! It surrounds you!" Trelawney had grabbed Buffy's hand and started proclaiming. Buffy looked around in fear. She couldn't know anything about her, could she? Buffy gazed back at Trelawney and remembered Ginny telling her that Trelawney does that type of thing al the time to Harry. Trelawney was a drama queen that way, even at her old age. Still, hearing what Trelawney said didn't sit well with her. It hit too close to home.

"Looks like Buffy's going to die. Pity," said Pansy. Pansy sat across from her and was her partner. She didn't have to like Buffy, but she was the only Slytherin girl in the class, and that made her the best choice. Pansy would never stoop so low as to be paired with a Hufflepuff. Normally, Millicent would be her partner but she was in the hospital wing after Goyle had accidentally hit her with some hex. What a moron. Besides, Buffy wasn't all that bad. She was a match for Pansy in trading insults at each other, and held her own against Draco too. Pansy had been talking to Blaise and had finally agreed she couldn't be a mud blood if she was a Slytherin. Still, she acted like one and up until now might as well have been muggle, so Pansy decided she's have to earn her way into acceptance. She'd have to prove her worth as a Slytherin.

None of the Hufflepuffs commented. The Slytherin's worst rivals may be the Gryffindors, but Slytherins tended to enjoy picking on the more gentle Hufflepuff students just as much. They gave Buffy and Pansy plenty of room.

"Die? I'm going to die?" Again, great. She already knew she was scheduled for an early untimely death but did her teacher have to rub it in? She had heard Trelawney was a phony and a nut case. Buffy changed tactics and played it cool. "That's some prediction. I'm human, of course I'm going to die eventually. In fact, I have a prediction for you. You're going to die. And Pansy's going to die and Hannah," she said, Hannah being the only Hufflepuff whose name she picked up. "Everyone in here is going to die at one point."

Pansy hid her snigger, she wasn't ready to play nice yet, and even if she was, Pansy wasn't really all that nice even to her best friends. Trelawney proclaimed, "Do not take death so lightly. It follows you. I have not seen such horrors forecasted for one since Harry Potter!" With that, she walked away, fearing the Slytherin girl slightly. Trelawney tended to be wary of all Slytherins. Especially the Malfoy boy.

One of the Hufflepuff girls, as this class was mostly female, looked towards the Slytherins. She too, was slightly afraid of them as they often picked on her since she was an easy target. The new girl had a strange aura.

The last class of the day was with the Gryffindors. Defense Against the Dark Arts. Buffy could do defense. Question was, could she do it with magic instead of her normal strategy? And how would Snape be? He favored her house she knew, so would he be nice or give her a hard time?

"The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible," Snape said silkily. Harry shuddered. Damn it, this had always been his favorite class. Now Snape was teaching it. At least Harry was good at this class. It would be more difficult for Snape to dock points, but he knew he'd still do it. He didn't like how Snape talked about the dark arts, with so much fascination it seemed.

Harry's eyes fell upon the new girl, Buffy. She was staring intently at Snape's speech. She startled though when Snape called on her.

"It seems, class, we have a new student. Miss Summers. You are not experienced in magic yet are you," Snape said managing to pack some maliciousness into the statement. Harry couldn't help frowning. Buffy couldn't help it, unless she was evil and it was all an act.

"Yeah," Buffy started, somewhat embarrassed by this attention. I-" She was cut off as her Professor shouted out and shot out a curse her way. She dived out of her chair, narrowly avoiding the curse. The curse hit a Gryffindor boy behind her, who was knocked down by the force of it.

"Ow," mumbled the boy, Neville Longbottom. Then, he spoke up in alarm, "I can't see! I can't see!" His skin was growing over his eyes. He clawed at his face in a panic.

"Bloody hell!" yelled Ron. "You cursed Neville!" Harry already had his wand gripped tight, ready to fire it at Snape. Buffy was getting back on her feet, staring incredulously at Snape. He lazily reversed the curse.

"It doesn't matter that you are behind and don't know magic. We are at war, and the Voldemort-" the class shuddered and some students gasped. Harry did not and neither did Buffy. "Yes, I said his name," continued Snape, "he will not care what your excuse is. He will kill you just the same. Same with any other dark wizard, evil creature, or demon. You must always be alert. Ten points for Slytherin for being prepared," Snape said, giving points and kudos to Slytherin for Buffy's quick actions without praising Buffy her self. He continued cruelly, "Longbottom, why am I not surprised? You seem as inept at defending against the dark arts as you were at potions. Even Summers managed not to get hit," he said with a distasteful glance at Buffy. "It makes no difference that I wasn't even aiming at you. Even innocent bystanders get killed. Always, always be prepared for anything. Excuses will get you killed, Longbottom," Snape said but looking at Harry as he said it. He scowled. "Like I said, we are at war. My job is to teach you how to defend yourselves. It seems I have a lot of work ahead of me .Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you all to pay attention, and try not to get yourselves killed, or worse. Ten points from Gryffindor for Longbottom's pathetic sluggishness. Class dismissed."

Harry couldn't help but storm out of the classroom. First day and already Snape is cursing students and taking points. How could he have expected Neville to defend against that curse so suddenly, he said refusing to acknowledge that Snape actually had a good point in that you must always be prepared. Buffy had done well, but hadn't used magic. Harry didn't know how to figure that in in his assessment of her.

Draco Malfoy was happy. Snape as their DADA teacher would be wonderful for the Slytherins and but stupid Potty in his place. He also was happy with the little demonstration. Buffy Summers had flung herself quite impressively out of the path of the curse and straight towards where he sat. He had had a very nice view. Also, he possibly had found a new quidditch player. She had excellent reflexes. If she turned out to be a good flyer, then she'd be perfect for the team.

Buffy smiled. She had a feeling she would like this class. Defending herself was one thing she knew how to do. She understood Snape perfectly. He was an ass, and she did not like the fact that he even temporarily curse a student, especially since it looked so eerily like what Amy's mom did to that one girl, where the skin grew over her mouth. She also did not like to tone he took with her. He clearly did not like her, but she was a Slytherin so he wasn't being too terrible to her anyways. Except for trying to curse her. Not cool. Still, he had a point and had demonstrated it effectively. And she did well. Giles would have been proud. All and all, the day didn't suck.

I finally updated! Now, please be good readers and review again and give me feedback. Oh, and I intend on introducing a familiar btvs character in. Any guesses on who it's gonna be? (Unless you remember from the first time I did the story. Don't tell if you do) It's NOT Angel though, I'm sorry to those of you who want him in. It's only after season one, and while they had a thing, it's nothing like they were in mid season two or anything. Oh, and I would love to try to work in Remus somehow later.


	9. Chapter 8: Connections

Thanks for reviews!

Chapter 8: Connections

The rest of the week went by at Hogwarts, similar to Buffy's the first day. Snape was fairly nasty to her in DAD though, but had lightened up as the Slytherins were slowly tolerating her more. She had learned quickly how the inner workings and politics of Slytherin worked. She realized they interacted much differently from all the other houses. It was very political and they weren't always nice to each other, but they always stuck together. And it involved constantly proving yourself to the other members. Most of the students in Slytherin were raised to think they were better than others, and to be tough. They had a very us-against-everyone-else attitude and never were supposed to show weaknesses. Buffy could play that game easily, she was used to having to put on a tough façade, not that she wasn't tough.

The Gryffindor trio she sympathized with for some of the stuff they've been through, but she thought they had it easy comparatively and they were starting to get on her nerves. They were such hypocrites, judging her based solely on the fact that she was Slytherin and then claiming Slytherins were the intolerant house. Ginny Weasly she liked though. She had run into the girl in the library and she helped Buffy find some books she needed because despite the amount of time she spent in the library in Sunnydale, she wasn't very good at navigating it. The Hogwarts library was nothing like Sunnydale's. Buffy had to go to the library often, as she was so far behind. As weird as it sounds, she actually took some comfort being in the library. It made her think of Giles, Willow, and Xander. And even Angel. Anyways, Ginny was a fun person and easy to talk to. Blaise was cool and all for accepting her and in turn paving the way for Buffy's acceptance with the rest of her House, but sometimes Buffy needed to talk to someone who was less full of herself, although Blaise wasn't as shallow as she sometimes pretended to be, much like Buffy wasn't as ditzy as she pretended to be, and they both recognized that in each other. Pansy was a pain most of the time and Millicent was a female equivalent to Crabbe and Goyle. Draco was mean but Buffy had fun verbally sparing with him. Plus, he was kinda cute and she had a feeling he was not as mean as he let on.

Transfigurations was going along slowly, and she still hadn't gotten a tutor. Charms was also moving along fairly slowly, not as much though. When Buffy got angry or something it tended to work easier, but the control wasn't there yet. Hagrid's class was always fun for Buffy, and it was funny to watch some of the other students shy away when Hagrid brought in large or bitey creatures. Is bitey a word? Divination was a joke as Blaise had said and Buffy found out that Trelawney predicted death for other students too, Harry most often. In fact, Harry was the only one who got it as much as Buffy and that made Buffy slightly uncomfortable. DADA was Buffy's favorite class by far. She was a natural at it and was only behind in the spell work of it, and they hadn't worked on that much yet. And Snape wasn't nearly as mean as Snyder.

Buffy bounced on her toes impatiently. She hadn't killed-_slayed_ she corrected herself- anything since she'd been here. She was planning her first trip into the Forest tonight, now that she had read up on which creatures in the Forest were good. But first, she wanted to go send her mom and the gang a letter, since these people apparently didn't know what phones were.

"Hey Blaise. Where do we go to send the mail?"

"It's the Owlery tower." Blaise gave her a 'duh' face.

"Oh right. Of course. Why didn't I think of that? The Owlery tower," Buffy said sarcastically as she followed her map to it. When she got there, she was in for a shock, as not much mail had been delivered yet since it was the 1st week and she hadn't seen the owls delivering letters.

"What the...?" Buffy was at a loss of what to do. She just wanted to send her letters! Why was everything so complicated in her life!

Buffy didn't notice the Hufflepuff girl delivering her own mail. The girl noticed her though. She watched as Buffy huffed in frustration. She clearly wasn't used to the wizard mail system.

"Y-you tie your letter t-to the owl," she said ducking her head. Buffy looked up at her. She smiled.

"Thanks. God, this is crazy here. I thought Sunnydale was bad. I mean, Sunnydale is bad, a lot more bad, but in a different way." She tied her letters to an owl and watched as it flew away. "Thanks though, really. I'm Buffy by the way. You're in my year, aren't you? What's your name?" Buffy noticed the Hufflepuff's extreme shyness and fear. She tried to be as nice as possible. She was like Willow when Buffy first met her, only even more shy and with a stutter instead of Willow babble.

"I'm T-tara. Tara." Tara was shocked at how nice Buffy was being. Slytherins were never nice to her. Then again, most Slytherins weren't muggle raised. Was that why Buffy was being nice to her?

"Nice to meet you. Well, I guess I'll see ya around." All that to deliver a letter. It would be so much easier if they had phones or something. Buffy paused before she left, and then turned around. "You're American too. I thought I was the only one. What are you doing going to an English school?"

"M-my mom. She was English and went to, to Hogwarts. She, she moved to America a-after marrying my d-dad. She was a-a witch too. My dad didn't know at the time. She ma-made sure I also came here, to Hogwarts. When, when she, when she died, my dad let me keep coming. He doesn't know th-that it's a wizard school. He wouldn't let me come if h-he knew. He's happy because me going here keeps me out, out of his w-way." Tara was surprised at herself for sharing all that. She normally didn't go into that much detail about a subject that personal to her. Then again, nobody ever asked. She looked at Buffy, waiting for her to laugh or something.

"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry, that's awful. My dad's a jack ass too. Not that I'm saying yours is, unless he is," Buffy saw that Tara wasn't upset at her for calling her dad a jack ass. It sounds like there was more to that story, but she wasn't going to pry. Not now anyways. The man did sound like a complete asshole though. "After my parents divorced, he kinda stopped caring. He never visits or calls or writes. Last time I visited him, he thought he could get away with just buying my affection. He barely paid me any attention. I like shopping, but I would have liked spending time with him even more than shopping. I needed him, and he wasn't there. When did your mom die?"

"She died my dur-during my second year." Tara didn't elaborate any more on her life and Buffy didn't ask. Buffy decided it would be her job later to help bring Tara out of her shell. Tara had it rough.

"That's rough, I really am sorry. If you ever need to talk, just let me know. I know I'm Slytherin so I'm all evil and stuff, but I'm sure I can find time between killing babies and worshipping the devil. I gotta go though. Nice meeting you." Tara couldn't help but smile at Buffy's sarcasm and the way she didn't take the Slytherin stereotype seriously.

"You too. B-bye."

**Buffy's letters.**

_Giles,_

_Hi. It's Buffy, obviously. Hogwarts is everything you said it would be. I'm doing fine even if the classes are hard and it's been hard fitting in. I'm in Slytherin by the way, if that means anything to you. I wanna thank you for sending me here, it's nice getting away from Sunnydale, I think I needed it. And I'm really sorry about everything. Things just got hard for me. Oh, how's the new girl? What's she like? I'm totally the better Slayer right? You don't like her better do you? If anything goes wrong or if she's having trouble handling the Hellmouth, let me know and I'll come back in a heartbeat. I do miss home some already. But don't worry about me, I'm fine. I miss everyone. And make sure Mom gets my letter. Xander and Willow too. Oh, and I haven't done any Slayage yet, although I found a great weapons store in Diagon Alley and I plan on patrolling the forest tonight. And no, I won't be careful. Kidding!_

_Love,_

_Buffy_

_Xander and Willow,_

_Hi! I Miss you guys so much, I wish you were here. I'm sorry about how I was in Sunnydale. Know that it had nothing to do with you, and I shouldn't have been such a bitch. That's Cordelia's job. (I'm just joking, Cordy, if you read this, which you probably won't.)_

_Hogwarts is sooooo cool! You both would love it. Giles probably already told you it's a castle, but you really have to see it to believe it. Everything's magic and amazing. They even fly on brooms! How's Angel doing? Tell him I said hi and, and I don't know what else. Tell him something for me... I miss you guys, and I know I already said it but I can't say it enough. Be nice to the new Slayer, what's her name anyways? And give Snyder a hard time for me. I love you both! And don't go out and do anything dangerous. I plan on going on my first patrol here tonight, so wish me luck!_

_Buffy_

_Mom,_

_Hi. I miss you. Not too much though, don't worry sending me here was the right thing. It's a really nice school, which I never thought I'd say about a school, much less a boarding school. I'm a little behind on the work, but they say I have potential. Me! I promise I'll do better here, which I know I said that at Sunnydale, but this time I really will. I don't wanna be a disappointment to you anymore, Mom, and I'm gonna try. It's beautiful here but I can't wait until winter break when I can come home and visit. I'm working hard already and stuff. Take care and don't over work yourself. I love you! _

_Love,_

_Buffy_

_P.S. Like I told you before, please be safe and you can go to Giles if you are ever worried about anything. I trust him, you can too. So, please be careful. I love you._

Remember to review! And for the people who don't want any BTVS being brought in, I'm sorry, but I like Tara, and good job those who guessed it. And I don't know how big of a role she will play. I don't plan on bringing in any of the core Scoobies.


	10. Chapter 9: Longings

Thanks reviewers!! A quick post before Thanksgiving break! Sorry it's been so long, I've been bad. On we go!

Chapter 9: Longings

The weekend finally came. Buffy was feeling very frustrated. Her classes were going slowly. She was still getting used to doing magic and was just a beginner. And she had to study almost constantly in order to try to catch up. She was really far behind. And she hated studying. She'd take an apocalypse over studying any day. Well maybe not really, but still. The point is she hated studying.

DADA was going good though and she had some people to talk to now. Also, she had finally gotten to blow off some steam by patrolling the other day. The forest would take some getting used to however since she never really had to patrol in the woods before. She had been an urban/suburban slayer.

_Buffy waited until her roommates were asleep. Then, quietly, she slipped out of bed and grabbed her weapons. She had a sliver knife and her stake at her hip, the sword she bought strapped on her back, and her wand, even though that probably wouldn't help her much. She hoped that she'd be able to transfigure stuff soon, then she wouldn't have to carry weapons around, she could just transfigured stuff when she gets there. Having armed herself, she snuck to the window and climbed out on the ledge. She surveyed the area to try to figure out how to get down. She was pretty high up. Too high even for a slayer. This wasn't going to work. Maybe...no, she couldn't do that, _yet_ anyways. She instead silently snuck to the Slytherin common room and out the portrait._

_Avoiding Filch wasn't difficult at all. She had her slayer senses on full alert and could hear him a mile away. Peeves didn't make as much noise, at night when no one was around anyhow, but she could feel him. Without anyone around she was able to quickly leave the castle, swiftly walking down the halls and jumping down stairs whenever they weren't in a convenient place or tried to move. Once she was outside though, she had to sprint to the forest to narrow her chance of anyone happening to look at the window and seeing her. _

_Buffy paused for breath. Then she made her way into the dark forest. Coming from the city and suburbs, Buffy wasn't used to things ever really being as dark as they were in the deep forest. Even being a slayer and comfortable in the dark she wasn't used to patrolling areas this dark. And graveyards and allies didn't have roots. She tripped several times, probably making a racket she thought. Good, let the baddies hear her, it would save her the trouble of having to find them. They could come to her._

_Her senses all of a sudden started tingling on over drive, and she turned just in time to lash out at some creature. It was big, human shaped, but covered in fur with pointy ears, sharp teeth and claws as every demon seemed to be equipped with, a ridge of spikes on its back, and one hell of an uppercut. Buffy back fisted it when she turned, throwing her weight into it. The thing stumbled back only to lunge at her and tackle her to the ground. It was strong and fought wildly, relying on its strength. They wrestled until Buffy was able to throw it off her, but not before taking some heavy blows as it scratched at her side and she wasn't able to avoid a strong punch in the jaw. She flipped up and grabbed her knife out since her sword had fallen off in the wrestling. It came at her with a wild string of swipes she ducked and dodged, and sometimes was hit with. Finally, she was able to side kick its stomach and as it staggered a few feet, she threw the knife into its heart. The thing gave some kind of roar/howl and ripped it out of its chest._

"_Okay, knife through the heart a no go, gotchya." Buffy ran for her sword and dove for it as the demon ran towards her in rage. It wasn't a fancy fighter, but it was strong and fast and a difficult opponent. Buffy grabbed her sword, rolled over, and thrusted up with it just as it jumped for her, all in one smooth motion. It impaled itself on her sword and Buffy used the momentum to throw it over her. The demon landed with a thump and struggled on the ground. It was hurt pretty badly from the knife and now the in its stomach sword, and a thick rusty red colored blood oozed out the wounds. Ew. It growled at her in vain, but Buffy just yanked the sword out and cut off its head, finishing the job._

"_Decapitation. Works every time," she said to herself. She looked down and realized she had quite a bit of blood on her, not to mention her jaw must be ten shades of purple. Thank god for make up and slayer healing. Still, it hurt and she decided one tough demon was enough for the night and made her way slowly back to the castle. Despite her injuries, it had been a successful first night and she felt a lot better having had a good fight. In a bit of pain, and a little hungry and horny maybe, but better. _

"You seem in a good mood," Draco commented to her at breakfast.

"Girl can't be in a good mood ever?" Buffy questioned, shifting in her seat, she may be in a better mood, but she was slightly sore. Stupid demon.

"Nope. It's great that you're feeling good," he said, giving her a smile. Buffy and Blaise turned to each other and shared a look.

"What do you want Draco?" Buffy asked.

"I just thought today might be a good day to teach you some flying."

"Flying?" she almost squealed. "You, Draco Malfoy, want to teach _me_ to fly?" she said disbelieving. "What's the catch?" Buffy wasn't sure if she liked the idea of flying. Yeah, it was cool, but on brooms? Soooo cliché. Another thing Buffy wasn't to comfortable to admit was that while she wasn't scared, it took a lot more to scare her, she didn't like the idea of being way off the ground like that, where you weren't in total control and your life depended on the whim of a broom. A broom!

"No catch at all," Draco started to say when Blaise interrupted him.

"Bullshit, Draco. Slytherin hasn't won the quidditch cup since Potter came here." She faced Buffy. "Draco wants to test you out to see if you're good, so you can play quidditch if you are."

"Me? Uh, uh. No way. Even if I were a good flyer, which I probably won't be, I have way too much work to catch up to. I'm like 6 years behind everyone else and have been working my ass off to catch up as quickly as possible. And I loathe studying. Buffy and school work don't tend to mix."

Draco just smiled. "You're right. You're just a silly little muggle bint. I doubt you'll ever catch up in school. Even if you did start your first year, you'd probably still be behind. You're not exactly the brightest, are you? Hmm, I don't know why I even wanted to bother teaching you to fly. You'd probably just get yourself killed. On second thought, that might not be such a bad thing. I'll teach you to fly anyways. It won't be my fault if you kill yourself. Less muggle filth is never a bad thing, and no one will miss you. Your family sent you off to a boarding school they know nothing about on the opposite side of the world, and this is assuming they are your real family since I still think you can't have been muggle born and be a Slytherin. They were most likely thrilled to send you away I bet," Draco droned on.

Buffy knew he was baiting her, but his words still hurt. Her mom sent her away so easily, trusting Giles, a practical stranger to her mom, about the school. Was she that eager to get rid of her trouble making, failure, and delinquent daughter? And her father never wanted to see her anymore. Her friends and Giles have a new slayer now, would she replace her to them? Buffy gave Draco a glare, and Summers women could glare and a Summers Slayer's glare was even worse. He didn't even flinch though, keeping that smug little look on his face and she left, imagining beating him to a bloody pulp. If he knew what she could do to him, he wouldn't be so cocky. Then again, he was Draco and he probably would be anyways. She stormed around the castle, finally opening a door at random.

Buffy gasped when she opened the door. It was her room, the one at home, down to every detail. She walked around it in awe, stopping to look at and picking up some photos and things. She ran her fingers along everything as she walked. It was real. She made her way to her bed and sat down. She grabbed Mr. Gordo and a photo album from off her dresser. She picked it up and opened it. The first pages were with her family when she was little. They were on vacation to Disneyland. She had on a Disney princess crown and was with her parents. She had always been her daddy's princess then and growing up. They were so happy. She continued flipping slowly through the pictures. It was a large album. She passed birthday parties, more vacations, pictures with friends, ice skating, and Hemery. She flipped through her homecoming and cheerleader days. She looked happy. Then she got towards the end of her Hemery days. There was a picture of her, her mom, and dad. The last one of all of them together. Buffy had shadows under her eyes and a far off look. She'd been called. Her dad had a huge smile plastered on his face and her mom a small one. It may be the last one of them together physically, but they weren't really together. Within days the happy family would finally collapse. The next section was Sunnydale. There were a few pictures of her and her Mom in front of the new house, and a couple of her with Willow and Xander. A few of just her and 2 with just her Mom. There was one with her, Ms. Calendar, Giles, Willow, and Xander. That was it. Not nearly as many as the same time span at Hemery.

"What a week. It's the end of the first week and already we have a mound of homework. Hermione..." Ron started.

"It's not my fault you two wanted to take potions again. You know it's a difficult class, and potions was never either of your strong suits. I'll help you, but don't expect me to give you the answers."

"But I have the Half Blood Prince on my side now," Harry said grinning.

"That book is bad news Harry. Besides, wouldn't you feel more accomplished if you weren't using someone else's work? It's borderline cheating," Herminone said.

"No," Ron answered. "I think someone's just jealous that they aren't the best anymore and that Slughorn is praising Harry as the genius in that class."

Hermione fumed in her seat at that.

"Yeah but we want to be Aurors. We need to take this class and the Prince is the only way I'll do well. And anyways, I _am_ learning. I'm learning more from the Prince than I ever did from Snape," Harry said. He needed the Half Blood Prince to get a good enough Newt to be an auror. And he was determined to be one. After all, he had faced Death Eaters and Voldemort and had survived. How could they not let him be an Auror? Hermione just sighed and started discussing the pitfalls of using the book. Ron decided to stop her and interrupt.

"How about quidditch this year? Let's take a break and go flying." Harry sighed. He always loved flying, it relaxed and exhilarated him all at once. And it was one thing he knew for sure he was great at that had nothing to do with Voldemort.

"No I think I'll pass right now," said Harry. He decided he'd busy himself with seeing about starting the DA again, with Dumbledore's permission. He walked up to the room of requirement. He had to think about if he did this what supplies they would need. Maybe he'd talk to Professor Slughorn too. The man was, odd, but he was brilliant and adored Harry

Harry was thinking about adding physical defense into the DA if it continued too; it was practical, basic and common sense. From experience, he knew physical attacks could be dangerous too, having often taken serious beatings by Dudley. Harry did not know how to fight, but he was a fairly efficient dodger, thanks to his cousin. With these thoughts, he walked to the room, hoping upon entering that the room will form into what he needed, even if he did not know everything he wanted.

Harry opened the door. He looked around. This was not what he was expecting. The room was fairly small, a muggle girl's room complete with muggle music posters. There was a window on the far side and it looked like night outside, despite being the middle of the day. And on the bed sat Buffy Summers and a Hufflepuff girl who's name he didn't know. They were looking through a muggle picture album together. Buffy looked up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"It's Hogwarts and I'm allowed to be here," he shot back. Then, with curiosity in his voice, he asked "Where is this?"

"It's the room of requirement," Buffy said with a smirk. She knew Harry knew what the room was, because Tara had told her about the DA. While she was looking at her photos, Tara had come in earlier. She confessed to Buffy that she had been coming up to this room from first year, when things were difficult it was always a comfort to her. It would often turn into her room too, or a wooded area by a stream her mom used to take her. It would turn into a peaceful place she needed for comfort. Buffy found herself pouring her heart out to Tara right back, avoiding the Slayer stuff and therefore some of the reasons, many of the reasons for her distress in life. She told her how she missed home, yet was grateful to get away, and how hard everything was for her. She even confessed to her hesitantly that her parents had put her in an institution when she had tried to tell them about the supernatural. That was the short censored version anyway, but more than she would tell anyone else. She talked about her parents and her worries that her Mom was abandoning her too and what Draco had told her. She also told her how hard it was to make friends, especially in Slytherin. Everyone in her House was so guarded, and she couldn't really talk to anyone like she was talking to Tara. Tara wouldn't judge her, Buffy knew. She was a great listener and her presence was comforting.

Tara on her part was surprised that she had told Buffy everything she did. And Buffy, who seemed guarded most of the time, shared right back. She liked her, and she liked her room. Buffy wasn't like the other Slytherins. She could also tell that she was hiding something, but didn't want to push. She watched cautiously when Harry entered. He was a celebrity and she felt even more shy than usual around him. Buffy didn't have any qualms though. He was just another boy to her, a cute one though. Tara had to hide a smile at Buffy's response. Buffy didn't know what the room was when she came in and Tara told her about it, what it had done for her, and about the DA. Tara had never gone to that though, but Buffy seemed really interested.

"I know that." Obviously he knew. "I mean, what is it that it turned into?" He figured it was the Hufflepuff's room. He was really amazed that Buffy was with her. A Slytherin and Hufflepuff hanging out? Especially one like this one. He didn't know her name or anything, but he'd seen her around. He knew she was shy and had a stutter. He also knew she was victim of Slytherin tormenting sometimes. All of a sudden, Harry felt horrible for not knowing her name.

"A room. It's my room," said Buffy surprising Harry. It was muggle. "I came up here and opened the door and it turned into this. I guess I miss home." She said this with the smartass tone gone from her voice and hugging some stuffed pig to her chest. "I was just showing Tara-" Tara was her name! "-some pictures from back home. I wasn't raised a death eater, you know," she said, annoyance in her voice at that. "I was raised muggle. You know that. This is my room from Sunnydale, where I've lived for the past year about. Wonder why it's not my LA room, I lived there longer."

Harry looked at Buffy. She was Slytherin! _But you could have been too, _a voice in the back of Harry's mind said. Harry chose Gryffindor because Ron had said Slytherin was evil, and because Malfoy was in it. It was evil! _You would do well in Slytherin._ Buffy didn't know enough about Slytherin to make a real choice. The hat had almost put him there and he wasn't evil. These thoughts ran through his head as he tried to put them together and think straight. He remembered talking to Ginny a few nights ago about Buffy.

"_What's your problem?" she asked. _

_Harry wasn't used to Ginny acting like that around him. However, she'd grown out of her shyness. "You guys liked her just fine on the train, well maybe you not so much because you were busy being all mopey." Ginny paused and her face softened as she said this, remembering what a hard time Harry was going through with Sirius's death. "You shouldn't judge people. I personally like her. She's fun and treats me like a person, not just like someone else's kid sister." That had always been an issue for Ginny. She didn't have any close friends in her year, not really close anyways, and everyone else, including Harry, always saw her as Ron's little sister and never included her in things until the end of last year. This year they'd gone back to excluding her. Fortunately, she was becoming good friends with Buffy, and even Luna and for some reason Neville she talked to a lot. She thought Neville might have a crush on her._

"_I'm not judging. It's just that, Ginny, Voldemort's back. We can't trust anyone. All of a sudden this new American girl with a vague past just appears here. We don't know anything about her. I'm just saying be careful..." I can't lose you he silently added, surprising himself with that thought. He always liked Ginny, she was Ron's sister, but the fierceness behind that last thought still surprised him._

"Do you mind?" Buffy said, snapping Harry back to the present. "We're leaving now. I have a ton of work to do this weekend, like I guess I will for the rest of my short life and something with Peroxide Head to take care of." Peroxide Head? _Malfoy_. Buffy just called the "Slytherin Prince" Peroxide Head?! He swallowed a laugh at the nickname. And wait did she say short life? He must have misheard. "And I don't exactly want some boy nosing through my room, even if it is fake, while I'm not here. You can come back in, just like, reset it or something. I dunno. Later." With that she and Tara left the room, Tara looking back to glance at the Boy Who Lived and quickly turning away when she saw he was looking after them. Harry stood there, not really knowing quite what to think of the encounter.

Review Please! And tell me if the slight back and forth time confused anyone. Or if my back and forth view points are confusing. Or anything else you feel like telling because I love reviews! And mini poll...should I do a Sunnydale chapter anytime soon, where it checks in on the gang, or stick with Hogwarts longer? Either way I will definitely do a hellmouth recap eventually.


End file.
